Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Canoe Financial LP

Canoe Financial LP trimmed its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 412,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,500 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 2.8% of Canoe Financial LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $196,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $135,968,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 10.3% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,154 shares of company stock worth $1,041,098 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.40.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE MCO opened at $516.45 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $487.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.93. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $92.13 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.