Troy Asset Management Ltd Trims Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Troy Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 77.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 101,710 shares during the period. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,154 shares of company stock worth $1,041,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price target on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $486.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $86.79 billion, a PE ratio of 39.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $483.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.77.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.