Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Purchases 4,289 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,289 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.93.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock worth $1,041,098 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

Moody’s stock opened at $531.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $94.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $496.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $497.30. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $540.00.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

About Moody’s

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.