Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 2,285 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,285 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $40,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,170,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,228,337,000 after purchasing an additional 163,288 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. raised its position in Moody’s by 0.6% in 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $987,524,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Moody’s by 6.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $689,517,000 after purchasing an additional 91,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,122,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,812,000 after buying an additional 20,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 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 value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $429.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $482.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.72. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.