NEOS Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,896 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $11,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $1,097,101,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $914,721,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,775,000 after buying an additional 726,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,963,000 after buying an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.61.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $493.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $489.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.63.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

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.