National Pension Service Has $64.49 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Posted by on Mar 16th, 2023

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 261,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,882 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.14% of Moody’s worth $64,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.7% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 356,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,662,000 after buying an additional 45,601 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.2% during the third quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 31,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,693,000 after buying an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 84.9% during the third quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $3,253,000. 90.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $292.79 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $304.80 and its 200-day moving average is $285.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.66 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $230.16 and a 52 week high of $346.22.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 62.08% and a net margin of 25.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.40%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at $19,344,005.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total value of $570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at $19,344,005.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond W. Mcdaniel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $2,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 82,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,443,405. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,701 shares of company stock worth $7,046,117. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Moody’s from $329.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Moody’s from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.67.

Moody’s Profile

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Moody’s Corp. engages in the provision of credit ratings, research, tools and analysis to the global capital markets. It operates through the Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA) segments. The MIS segment is a credit rating agency, which publishes credit ratings on debt obligations and the entities, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities, and commercial paper programs.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Moody's (NYSE:MCO)

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