Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Makes New $621,000 Investment in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,802,195,000 after purchasing an additional 102,682 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $689,517,000 after acquiring an additional 91,463 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 18.4% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $555,052,000 after acquiring an additional 181,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,122,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,812,000 after acquiring an additional 20,619 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $449.30 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $443.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $472.64. 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 $78.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $489.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.29.

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.