Exchange Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Exchange Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 194 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $469,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 50.3% during the first quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 2,148 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $481.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.42. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.48.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given 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 payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho increased 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.21.

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.