Patton Fund Management Inc. Has $244,000 Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Patton Fund Management Inc. lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 86.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 512 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,209 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Moody’s by 19.6% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 87.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,414,000 after acquiring an additional 93,244 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $714,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $515.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.61. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.90 billion, a PE ratio of 41.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.45. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. The company’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. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Profile

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.