Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,187 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 15.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $504.64 on Tuesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $486.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.76.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. 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 currently 26.13%.

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.