National Pension Service Has $180.96 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 360,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 80,573 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.20% of Moody’s worth $180,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $328,595,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $135,968,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $712,777,000 after purchasing an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 29.9% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 634,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $295,570,000 after buying an additional 146,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE MCO opened at $490.51 on Thursday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $490.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $87.51 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,984 shares of company stock worth $1,470,249 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.