University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Takes $1.74 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 11.9% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $244,817,000 after acquiring an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 289.8% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 47,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,287,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFR Capital LLC. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 15.0% during the first quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 4,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.3%

Moody’s stock opened at $490.54 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $493.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $485.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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 firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. The business’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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,802,876 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.33.

Moody’s Company 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.