Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 484,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,664 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Moody’s worth $242,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after buying an additional 215,551 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 634,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $295,570,000 after purchasing an additional 146,141 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,897,000 after purchasing an additional 140,128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.9%

MCO stock opened at $495.22 on Tuesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $88.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.81, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $493.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $486.09.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.33.

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 dated 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 sale, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.09, for a total value of $199,652.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,385,939.38. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,365 shares of company stock valued at $1,712,505. 0.14% of the stock is owned by 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.