Smart Money Group LLC Raises Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Smart Money Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 12.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $30,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% in the 2nd 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. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% in the 2nd 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. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 132.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 2,984 shares of company stock worth $1,470,249 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $482.02 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $488.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $488.73. The company has a market cap of $85.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s’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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Moody’s Company 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.