Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,428 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,644,552,000 after acquiring an additional 83,872 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted 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 valued at $689,517,000 after acquiring an additional 91,463 shares during the period. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 18.4% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $555,052,000 after acquiring an additional 181,305 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $438.21 on Wednesday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $450.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $479.56. The company has a market cap of $78.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $385.61 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous 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, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have 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 note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $547.94.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’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 value of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732. 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.