Sage Rhino Capital LLC Grows Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 173.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.67.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MCO stock traded up $3.48 on Tuesday, hitting $502.26. The stock had a trading volume of 122,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,414. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $452.09 and its 200-day moving average is $466.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.