Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Decreases Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC decreased its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,414,000 after buying an additional 93,244 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after acquiring an additional 98,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 43,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,712,000 after acquiring an additional 13,186 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.93.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $531.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $496.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.36. The company has a market cap of $94.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $540.00.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other 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 value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,154 shares of company stock worth $1,041,098. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.