Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 59,121 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $385,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.58.

Moody’s Stock Down 3.2%

Moody’s stock opened at $489.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $462.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.09.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 company’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 sale, 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 position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Moody’s

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Moody’s to $600 from $530 and maintained an overweight rating, signaling confidence in the company’s earnings power and upside potential. Benzinga report on JPMorgan price target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary around Q2 suggests stronger global bond issuance volumes, which could support Moody’s ratings and analytics revenue through higher investment-grade, high-yield, and structured-finance activity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several previews ahead of earnings highlight Moody’s as a financially strong company with solid growth prospects, and analysts are broadly bullish on the stock heading into the report. Article on bullish analyst views
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Moody’s Q2 2026 earnings, with coverage focusing on whether the company can beat estimates and justify its premium valuation. Seeking Alpha earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s also issued a warning on rising Indonesia risks despite the country’s 2.85% deficit target, but this looks more like a macro risk update than a company-specific catalyst. Yahoo Finance article on Indonesia risks
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary notes that Moody’s is trading at a rich earnings multiple ahead of its report, which may weigh on the stock if results do not clearly exceed expectations. Motley Fool valuation article

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.