Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 83.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after acquiring an additional 215,551 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 70.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 447,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $208,370,000 after acquiring an additional 184,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 29.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 634,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $295,570,000 after acquiring an additional 146,141 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $480.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $490.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $487.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.90, for a total value of $269,669.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,168,399.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,817 shares of company stock valued at $911,315 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

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.