Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 61.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,964 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $477.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $493.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $492.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $84.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.44. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total value of $286,867.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,473,809.80. This represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company 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.