Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 13.6% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 888 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Moody’s by 128.5% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 314.8% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.8% in the first 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 buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 25.8% during the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $470.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $491.77. The company has a market cap of $83.89 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 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.