Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. lowered its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,246 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.12% of Moody’s worth $111,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 612 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,050,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $526,760,000 after buying an additional 22,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $441.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $470.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $484.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Company 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.