Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 378,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Moody’s worth $180,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 87.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,414,000 after buying an additional 93,244 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 19.6% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after buying an additional 98,951 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 43.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 43,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,712,000 after buying an additional 13,186 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $535.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $497.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.84. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $540.00.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.06.

Moody’s Profile

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.