ProShare Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,261 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,011 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $492.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $487.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $490.76. The firm has a market cap of $87.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is currently 30.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 2,984 shares of company stock worth $1,470,249 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.