Moody’s Corporation $MCO is Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 29.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,800 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for approximately 2.4% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.09% of Moody’s worth $66,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $495.95 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $456.18 and a 200 day moving average of $465.63. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $86.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 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 (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.03 dividend. 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 is currently 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

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.