Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 665,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,751 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $332,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.1% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Moody’s by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,569 shares of company stock worth $1,253,848. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MCO. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $485.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The business’s 50 day moving average is $481.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $492.13. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 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.