Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,413 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up about 6.8% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. owned 0.08% of Moody’s worth $73,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $434.37 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $472.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $485.48. The company has a market capitalization of $77.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. The business’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.