Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,277,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 114,626 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,163,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 280 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 that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $453.39 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $445.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $471.14. The company has a market cap of $79.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.29.

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.