Hikari Power Ltd Raises Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Hikari Power Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises 2.2% of Hikari Power Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Hikari Power Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $26,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 50.0% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Moody’s by 42.9% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.33.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.09, for a total transaction of $199,652.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,385,939.38. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,802,876 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $490.54 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $493.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $485.70. 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 cap of $87.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a 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%.

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.