Nykredit A S Acquires Shares of 83,672 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 83,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,897,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.8%

Moody’s stock opened at $503.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $489.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $462.42. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $87.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

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.