Ycg LLC Increases Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Ycg LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 184,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,768 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for about 6.6% of Ycg LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ycg LLC owned 0.10% of Moody’s worth $87,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $135,968,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 223.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 184,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $539.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $501.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $498.97.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s’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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa America raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.94.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.