Vinva Investment Management Ltd Increases Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 24.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,731 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $267,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $87,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE MCO opened at $472.14 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $488.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $490.12. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $84.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. 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. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.