APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires 81,404 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 55.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,404 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.13% of Moody’s worth $109,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,473,809.80. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $477.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $493.68 and its 200-day moving average is $491.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

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.