114,103 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 114,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $51,680,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Moody’s as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 87.1% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:MCO opened at $511.25 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $480.36 and a 200 day moving average of $458.52. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% 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 sold 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s 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.