Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys 4,114 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 48,240 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Moody’s by 14.7% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 41,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5,179.4% during 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 during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents 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 have sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $511.14 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.66 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $460.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors 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 yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.47.

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.