Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,100 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for 1.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $27,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,083,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 806.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the period. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 4.1% during the second quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 85,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353 shares during the period. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $4,483,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,897,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Trading Up 3.9%

NYSE MCO traded up $18.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $481.00. 469,052 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,051,381. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $83.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $477.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $466.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.74.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.