E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 3.0%

MCO stock opened at $427.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $468.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $484.41. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $76.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 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 value of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCO. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays cut their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

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.