4,060 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by Cinctive Capital Management LP

Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VestGen Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% in the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,334,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $432.42 on Tuesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $480.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $487.17.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

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.