Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Yacktman Asset Management LP

Yacktman Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 62.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 50.0% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in Moody’s by 42.9% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% during the second quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $486.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $488.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $488.78. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,984 shares of company stock worth $1,470,249. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One 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.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.