Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,560 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $26,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 135.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after buying an additional 26,388 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MCO opened at $462.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.45. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $487.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $489.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Moody’s 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.