Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 152 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 214.7% in the second quarter. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. now owns 19,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,558,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich bought a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $200,000. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.3% during the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 156,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,678,000 after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares in the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.3% during the second quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,319,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.4% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE MCO opened at $484.17 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $501.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.79.

About Moody’s

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.