Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,127 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,222.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,198,000 after acquiring an additional 219,251 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10,311.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,260,000 after acquiring an additional 195,926 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $555,052,000 after acquiring an additional 181,305 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $86,930,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.3%

MCO stock opened at $450.94 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve 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. The company has a market capitalization of $78.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $448.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $475.61.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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. 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 last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.