Greenleaf Trust Cuts Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 652 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 265,389 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 142.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,083,000 after acquiring an additional 238,569 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 10.3% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 70.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 447,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $208,370,000 after acquiring an additional 184,297 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $476.64 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $505.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $481.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $85.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.