Achmea Investment Management B.V. Buys 1,509 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $987,524,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,222.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,198,000 after purchasing an additional 219,251 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10,311.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,260,000 after purchasing an additional 195,926 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 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 transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value 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 represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.0%

Moody’s stock opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $478.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $486.69. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 0.9%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

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.