PFG Advisors Purchases 500 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

PFG Advisors lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 65.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $244,817,000 after buying an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 33.0% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 25,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4,738.5% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 45,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,023,000 after purchasing an additional 44,210 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.9% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 284,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,260,000 after purchasing an additional 30,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Moody’s by 19.6% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,502,000 after purchasing an additional 98,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.5%

Moody’s stock opened at $492.42 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $87.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $487.37 and its 200 day moving average is $490.76. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,984 shares of company stock worth $1,470,249 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.