Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 12,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,872,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $987,524,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Moody’s by 223.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 184,598 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Moody’s by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 235,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,987,000 after purchasing an additional 112,105 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 87.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $100,414,000 after purchasing an additional 93,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $445.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $485.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $489.04. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’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 $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.