Optimize Financial Inc Purchases 91 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Optimize Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 13.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 792 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 55,808.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $328,595,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 142.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,083,000 after acquiring an additional 238,569 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,980,000 after acquiring an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.57.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $507.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $508.07 and its 200 day moving average is $479.47. The firm has a market cap of $90.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.95%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.