Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stock: Baskin Financial Services Inc. Cuts Position

Baskin Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,089 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up approximately 3.7% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $45,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.1% in the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $551.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 Performance

MCO traded down $4.95 on Monday, hitting $480.12. The company had a trading volume of 202,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,048,810. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $477.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $466.89. 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 current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $83.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 earned $3.56 earnings per share. The company’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. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.