Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,261 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,011 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,984 shares of company stock worth $1,470,249. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $492.42 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $487.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $490.76. The firm has a market cap of $87.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s’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. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

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.