Ghe LLC Purchases 2,000 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Ghe LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises about 2.7% of Ghe LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $452.03 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $444.46 and its 200 day moving average is $472.04. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $78.97 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 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 $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. 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.