2,850 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,243,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $487.17 on Monday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $455.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $465.76. 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 $85.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

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.