Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Bellwether Advisors LLC

Bellwether Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 17,016.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,170,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,228,337,000 after acquiring an additional 163,288 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,644,552,000 after purchasing an additional 83,872 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,943,418,000 after purchasing an additional 69,455 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $987,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,473,809.80. This represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $464.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $491.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $490.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $82.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.