Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position 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 period. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position 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 period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position 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 period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.21.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $489.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $502.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $87.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.41. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last 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 forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors 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 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.