Fifth Third Bancorp Has $34.53 Million Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 135.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,576 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $34,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MCO opened at $487.17 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $455.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.