Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Acquires New Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,054,000. Moody’s accounts for about 3.2% of Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after buying an additional 2,505 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 218,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,796,000 after purchasing an additional 48,240 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 41,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,362 shares during the period. Finally, LBP AM SA raised its position in Moody’s by 5,179.4% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 38,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,796,000 after purchasing an additional 38,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 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 value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.47.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5%

Moody’s stock opened at $511.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $460.53 and a 200-day moving average of $465.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

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.