Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 51.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,007 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 191,368 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,644,552,000 after purchasing an additional 83,872 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,943,418,000 after purchasing an additional 69,455 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $987,524,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS of $3.64 topped consensus and revenue rose ~13% with record Investors Services revenue, supporting near-term fundamentals and earnings guidance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management set upbeat FY2026 profit guidance and cited strong demand for credit ratings and M&A activity — this underpins forward growth expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic growth drivers highlighted: AI integration and expanded decision‑grade data offerings are being cited as contributors to recurring revenue and product differentiation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase announced — Moody’s raised its quarterly payout ~9.6% to $1.03, signaling confidence in cash flow and returning capital to shareholders. (Ex-dividend date March 2)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst target revisions and model updates are rolling in ahead of/after the print; some firms adjusted forecasts (mixed impact as revisions reflect both beat and longer-term assumptions). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target from $600 to $560 but kept an “overweight” rating — this narrows upside expectations while still signaling conviction in the name. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Post-earnings pullback was anticipated by some analysts/comments — Seeking Alpha and others note investor profit-taking and that the stock may be re-pricing 2026 assumptions despite the beat. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,473,809.80. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $447.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $497.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.97. The stock has a market cap of $79.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 (DPR) is currently 27.49%.

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.