QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,375 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was 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 quarter, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.83.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $489.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $85.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $452.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.21. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Moody’s Profile

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.