Moody’s Corporation $MCO Position Raised by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,099 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Moody’s worth $151,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BAM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Moody’s by 135.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,837,000 after acquiring an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total value of $286,867.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,473,809.80. This represents a 0.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of MCO opened at $479.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $494.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.44. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.