Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,864 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $267,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $294,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $734,000. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 31.4% in the second quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Finally, VestGen Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% in the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $436.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $458.44 and a 200-day moving average of $481.60. The stock has a market cap of $77.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 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.