West Family Investments Inc. Purchases 264 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 39.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 939 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $490.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $481.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $492.15. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. 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 capitalization of $87.57 billion, a PE ratio of 39.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.07.

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.