Meridiem Capital Partners LP Invests $21.54 Million in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Meridiem Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 45,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,535,000. Moody’s makes up about 1.4% of Meridiem Capital Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8%

Moody’s stock traded up $3.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $430.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 148,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,663. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $76.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.45. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $483.56 and its 200 day moving average is $488.60.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.