Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 111.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 118,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,713 shares during the period. Moody’s makes up approximately 1.3% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $56,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.9%

Moody’s stock opened at $462.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $487.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $489.79. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.