Moody’s Corporation $MCO is Marshfield Associates’ 10th Largest Position

Marshfield Associates boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 537,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,114 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up about 4.4% of Marshfield Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Marshfield Associates’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $255,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’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 owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $432.42 on Tuesday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $487.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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