Moody’s Corporation $MCO is Caledonia Investments PLC’s 8th Largest Position

Caledonia Investments PLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,750 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for 5.9% of Caledonia Investments PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Caledonia Investments PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $59,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related 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 value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.71.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $480.58 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $505.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $481.33. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.02 billion, a PE ratio of 40.83, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.42. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 31.95%.

Moody’s 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.