Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stake Decreased by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 86.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 512 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,209 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,052,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 51,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,169,000 after buying an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Moody’s by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 12,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,464,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MCO. 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.40.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $515.11 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $485.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $493.61. The company has a market cap of $91.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current 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 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.