Cypress Capital Group Acquires 774 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cypress Capital Group increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 33.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 20.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth about $664,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 49.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 21.4% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,812,135 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price 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. One 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.79.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE MCO opened at $484.17 on Monday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $501.29 and a 200-day moving average of $482.67. The company has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a PE ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

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.