Moody’s Corporation $MCO Holdings Lifted by Xponance LLC

Xponance LLC grew its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Xponance LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $21,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,041,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 15,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,209,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $151,029,000 after acquiring an additional 16,099 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 98.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 14,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,073,000 after acquiring an additional 7,359 shares during the period. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 23,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,186,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.0%

MCO stock opened at $441.75 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $448.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $469.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

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.