Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 4,485 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 22.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,485 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 50.0% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Moody’s by 42.9% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.79.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $31,451,077.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $484.17 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $501.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a PE ratio of 41.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.41. 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

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.