Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 5,690 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 425,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,690 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Moody’s worth $202,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $135,968,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $712,777,000 after buying an additional 265,389 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 10.3% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after acquiring an additional 215,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after acquiring an additional 191,368 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $497.49 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $483.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.99. The firm has a market cap of $88.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.99, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. 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 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 directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.75.

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.