Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,214 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,664 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $29,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.67.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $485.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $84.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $454.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.04. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

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.