Unio Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Unio Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 49,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,059,000. Moody’s accounts for about 4.7% of Unio Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $468.97 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $81.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $449.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $468.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.