Vestcor Inc Boosts Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5%

MCO opened at $451.54 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $447.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $470.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $78.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.08 billion during 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued 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, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

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.