Carderock Capital Management Inc. Purchases 314 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises 2.5% of Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 634,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $295,570,000 after acquiring an additional 146,141 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 115.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 152.3% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth $714,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Moody’s by 30.3% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total value of $216,401.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,130,706.10. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $506.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.42. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $508.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.66.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.57.

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.