Cromwell Holdings LLC Cuts Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cromwell Holdings LLC cut its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 343 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 50.0% in the second 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 last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Moody’s by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. The trade was a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $481.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $504.02 and its 200 day moving average is $481.48. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.42. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

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.