Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC reduced its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 14.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,123 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 25,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in Moody’s by 4,738.5% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 45,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,023,000 after purchasing an additional 44,210 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Moody’s by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 284,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,260,000 after purchasing an additional 30,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4%

Moody’s stock opened at $470.24 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $485.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $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 fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. 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%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,569 shares of company stock worth $1,253,848. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.