Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 574,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 92,859 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.32% of Moody’s worth $293,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $395,096,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 315.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 417,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,424,000 after purchasing an additional 317,245 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,222.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,499,000 after purchasing an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 340.0% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,198,000 after purchasing an additional 219,251 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $468.97 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $449.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $468.88. The firm has a market cap of $81.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio 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.