Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 219.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,317 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO 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 firm has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $501.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $498.97. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $524.00 to $570.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

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.