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

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,485 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 20.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $203,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $664,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 49.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Moody’s by 21.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of MCO opened at $484.17 on Monday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $501.29 and a 200 day moving average of $482.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 presently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.