Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Has $5.61 Million Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 58.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,989 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,602 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,614,000 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 MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $395,096,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Moody’s by 1,222.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,198,000 after purchasing an additional 219,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 195,926 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 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 $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% 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. Insiders sold a total of 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $444.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $447.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $470.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Moody’s Company 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.