Ghe LLC Has $12.44 Million Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Ghe LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 78.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,513 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 2.6% of Ghe LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in 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. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.06.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.0%

Moody’s stock opened at $487.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $455.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.76. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.