Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys Shares of 64,614 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 64,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,265,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $515.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $484.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.08. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.61.

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.