National Pension Service Has $180.96 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

National Pension Service reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 360,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 80,573 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $180,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.1% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,984 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,249. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MCO opened at $490.51 on Thursday. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $487.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $490.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

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.