M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,529 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,529 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $30,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $244,817,000 after acquiring an additional 56,273 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 worth $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $714,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $487.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.45. 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 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

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 shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,569 shares of company stock worth $1,253,848 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

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.