Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Acquires New Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 400 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 87,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,905,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $470.72 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $497.04 and its 200-day moving average is $482.83. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.28 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MCO. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Barclays upped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.87.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,802,876 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.