Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Bell Asset Management Ltd

Bell Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $472.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.12. The stock has a market cap of $84.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.