Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $13,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8%

Moody’s stock opened at $490.85 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $87.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $481.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

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.