Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $36,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.6% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 888 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Moody’s by 128.5% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 12,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,604,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 25.8% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 639 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $470.24 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $83.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $485.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.77.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. 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. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 2,569 shares of company stock worth $1,253,848 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.07.

About Moody’s

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.