225 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 225 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $105,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,899,490,000 after purchasing an additional 119,548 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 16.1% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody’s by 9.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,586,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,897,000 after buying an additional 140,128 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 21.0% in 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 buying an additional 265,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Forge Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Moody’s by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley Forge Capital Management LP now owns 1,314,144 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $622,076,000 after buying an additional 25,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.0%

MCO opened at $509.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $505.37 and its 200-day moving average is $480.39. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total transaction of $741,365.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $705,238.38. The trade was a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,618 shares in the company, valued at $32,130,706.10. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,008 shares of company stock worth $4,599,385 over the last quarter. 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.