OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New $3.62 Million Investment in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,622,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,046,819.53. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Moody’s

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company reported stronger analytics growth and said profit rose, and management lifted its annual outlook — signaling underlying demand strength that supports earnings durability. Moody’s profit rises on strong analytics growth, lifts annual forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Board boosted share repurchase authorization to $2.5 billion after the quarter — a clear capital-return action that typically supports the stock and EPS per share over time. Moody’s Boosts Buybacks To $2.5 Billion Following Q1 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets and analysts framed the quarter as a beat on the strength of issuance and analytics demand (record Q1 results cited), supporting near-term revenue and recurring analytics momentum. Moody’s Q1 earnings beat, helped by strong issuance environment
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary turned constructive after the print — several analysts highlighted Moody’s resilience and recommended the stock. Analysts Are Bullish on These Financial Stocks: Robinhood (HOOD), Moody’s (MCO)
• Neutral Sentiment: Company issued FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–$17.00 (range includes street consensus), giving investors a band to model but not a definitive beat vs consensus. Moody’s Corporation Achieved Record Results For First Quarter 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: The company held an earnings call and provided color on issuance, analytics demand and macro exposure — useful detail for modeling but no material surprises flagged beyond buybacks/guidance. Moody’s Corporation (MCO) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s economists/commentary (e.g., on helium supply and geopolitics) draw attention to franchise research value but are unlikely to move the stock materially on their own. The AI economy runs on helium. The Iran war just created a $650 billion problem
• Negative Sentiment: On a like-for-like basis some data points missed certain street estimates: the press release shows Q1 EPS and revenue that were cited as slightly below some analysts’ consensus — a counterpoint investors will watch if execution slips. View Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: Operating expenses rose in the quarter (investment in analytics and higher costs), which muted margin upside and could pressure near‑term net margin expansion if revenue growth slows. Moody’s Q1 earnings, revenue ahead of estimates

Moody’s Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $467.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $444.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $477.17. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $83.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

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.