Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,994 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises 1.6% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $32,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 4.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $469,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 89.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,286,000 after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Moody’s by 2.5% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 4.5% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $476.64 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $505.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $481.29. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.71.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,451,077.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by 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.