Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Grows Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,247 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $267,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 26.9% during the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 6.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $472.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $488.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $490.44. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.