Westerkirk Capital Inc. Purchases New Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,540 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,776,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Moody’s by 11.9% during the first 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Moody’s by 19.6% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $714,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $487.06 on Tuesday. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $481.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $492.23. The stock has a market cap of $86.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s’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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given 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 presently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.