Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,041 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Matrix Trust Co grew its position in Moody’s by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 951 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 42,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,369,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.61.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% 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. Insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $478.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $459.62. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.33.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

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.