Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Akre Capital Management LLC

Akre Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,118,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 186,475 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises about 10.1% of Akre Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Akre Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.19% of Moody’s worth $1,009,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 44.5% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Moody’s by 18.5% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $2,380,829.23. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $425.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $75.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $488.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 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 analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 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.