Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Purchases Shares of 11,761 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 11,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,604,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,170,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,228,337,000 after purchasing an additional 163,288 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,644,552,000 after purchasing an additional 83,872 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,943,418,000 after purchasing an additional 69,455 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $987,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $452.06 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $489.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

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.