Ironvine Capital Partners LLC Raises Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Ironvine Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,353 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for about 3.4% of Ironvine Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $38,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 87.1% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $494.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $487.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $461.35. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

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.