Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Boosts Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,676 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 1.1% of Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC owned 0.08% of Moody’s worth $60,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 806.7% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,031,000 after buying an additional 8,220 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Moody’s by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,769,000 after acquiring an additional 143,515 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $24,665,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $515.69 on Monday. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $484.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.16.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.56 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue 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, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.