XXEC Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO – Free Report) by 484.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,395 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for 5.9% of XXEC Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. XXEC Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $30,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after purchasing an additional 102,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,551,000 after buying an additional 42,966 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after buying an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,023,000 after buying an additional 62,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.83.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly 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. 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. Insiders sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Moody’s Price Performance
Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $453.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $79.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $450.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.15.
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Moody’s Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.
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.
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