PineStone Asset Management Inc. Purchases 111,725 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,725 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 7.5% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned about 1.33% of Moody’s worth $1,213,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $871,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,041,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 135.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,837,000 after purchasing an additional 26,388 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0%

MCO stock opened at $436.41 on Wednesday. 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 current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $458.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $481.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $1.03 dividend. 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 0.9%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm’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 $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.