Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Sells 9,478 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,478 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $21,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $871,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,041,000 after buying an additional 10,434 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,649,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 135.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after buying an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MCO opened at $439.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.23 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $456.74 and its 200 day moving average is $481.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

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, 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 analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.