Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stake Lifted by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 500,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $226,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Moody’s by 806.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,083,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,665,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $467.19 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $491.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $463.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. 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 MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.61.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.