K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Has $6.06 Million Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $987,524,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $135,968,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.3% during the second 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Moody’s by 223.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 91.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 235,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,987,000 after purchasing an additional 112,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of MCO opened at $464.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $492.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.44.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.15, for a total value of $305,560.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,527,474.30. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

About Moody’s

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.