Aquatic Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,654,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $432.42 on Tuesday. 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $480.30 and a 200-day moving average of $487.17. The stock has a market cap of $76.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.