DNB Asset Management AS Purchases 1,891 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $16,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 33.0% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 25,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 284,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,260,000 after acquiring an additional 30,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Moody’s by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,569 shares of company stock worth $1,253,848. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.1%

MCO opened at $479.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $491.63. The company has a market capitalization of $85.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

About Moody’s

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.