Generate Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,550,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 7,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,835,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 10,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,245,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,451,077.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $476.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $506.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.42. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.28 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given 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 was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.71.

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.