Cidel Asset Management Inc. Takes $8.42 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 18,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,418,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 806.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $1,097,101,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,505 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in Moody’s by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,769,000 after purchasing an additional 143,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,665,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:MCO opened at $480.97 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $83.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.34. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $491.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.60.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.