J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 26,737 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 31.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,737 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $24,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% 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 90 days, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $487.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $455.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.76. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for 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%.Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

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.