5,177 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by Johnson Financial Group LLC

Johnson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,645,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 219,251 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Moody’s by 10,311.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,260,000 after buying an additional 195,926 shares during the period. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 18.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Moody’s

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moody’s will host a June 8 Q&A session focused on its generative AI strategy, including partnerships and product innovation. That could reassure investors that the company is investing in higher-growth, technology-enabled offerings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain moderately optimistic on MCO, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and price targets above the current share price, which may help support the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s chief economist warning that a potential Iran war could cost U.S. households about $100 billion is more of a macro commentary than a direct company-specific catalyst, so its stock impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales by CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard Steele may create a modest negative signal, even though both transactions were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s has lagged the broader broker-dealers and securities exchanges group over the past year, and that relative underperformance may be keeping some investors cautious. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $448.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $78.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $446.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $470.59. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

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.