Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,899,490,000 after acquiring an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after acquiring an additional 215,551 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,085,000 after acquiring an additional 60,816 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 21.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. 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, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.71.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $476.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $506.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.79. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during 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%.Moody’s’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 business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis 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 currently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.