Bridgefront Capital LLC Makes New $1.55 Million Investment in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,553,000. Moody’s makes up 0.5% of Bridgefront Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $987,524,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1,222.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,499,000 after purchasing an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 10,311.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,260,000 after purchasing an additional 195,926 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 223.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 184,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $429.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $482.19 and a 200-day moving average of $487.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.