Venturi Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Venturi Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 13.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 77,500.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Moody’s by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 289.8% during the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Moody’s by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.79.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total value of $1,893,114.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,238.38. This represents a 51.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $491.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $501.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.44. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $88.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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. Equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Moody’s 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.