DAVENPORT & Co LLC Purchases 1,339 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $424.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $462.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $483.08. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $75.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 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 analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. 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 payout ratio is 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.