Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Boosts Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.1% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Moody’s by 42.9% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,569 shares of company stock worth $1,253,848 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $471.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $485.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $491.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.