Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.4%

MCO stock opened at $445.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $485.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $489.04. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.