Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 10,260 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Congress Asset Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 195,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,260 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $88,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.0% during the third quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 784 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,802,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,029,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 73.7% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $4.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $452.64. The company had a trading volume of 583,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,052. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $464.81. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $78.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.12.

Moody’s Company 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 companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.