Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 3,407 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 28.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 218,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,796,000 after purchasing an additional 48,240 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA grew its position in Moody’s by 5,179.4% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 38,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,796,000 after purchasing an additional 38,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in Moody’s by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,769,000 after purchasing an additional 143,515 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

Moody’s stock opened at $511.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $460.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $89.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 over the last three months. Company 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.