Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock Position Cut by First Trust Advisors LP

Posted by Brian Himes on Jul 23rd, 2026

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO – Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 388,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,473 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $169,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s News Summary

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

Positive Sentiment: Moody’s reported Q2 EPS of $4.68, ahead of consensus, and revenue of $2.19 billion, up 15.1% year over year, helped by stronger bond issuance activity and solid demand in analytics. Article Link
Positive Sentiment: The company raised its stock repurchase outlook and declared a $1.03 dividend, which supports shareholder returns. Article Link
Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s updated full-year 2026 EPS guidance to $16.50-$17.00, which is broadly in line with expectations, but not enough to offset concerns about margin pressure. Article Link
Negative Sentiment: The market is reacting to lower 2026 operating margin guidance, suggesting costs may be rising faster than expected and limiting enthusiasm for the earnings beat. Article Link

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $489.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $85.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $463.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $551.42.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Moody’s

Moody’s Profile

(Free Report)

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.