Czech National Bank Purchases 1,271 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $20,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of MCO opened at $432.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $77.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $464.50 and its 200-day moving average is $483.66.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.