Caxton Associates LLP Takes $5.37 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,373,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 102,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,551,000 after purchasing an additional 42,966 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Moody’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,023,000 after purchasing an additional 62,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,024,874,000 after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moody’s beat second-quarter expectations, reporting $4.68 EPS on $2.19 billion of revenue, with sales up 15.1% year over year. Management also raised its stock repurchase outlook, which signals confidence in cash generation and capital returns. Moodys Corp (MCO) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue Growth and Raised Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue growth was supported by stronger bond issuance activity and steady demand for Moody’s analytics business, reinforcing the company’s “wide moat” positioning and durable growth profile. MCO Q2 Earnings Beat on Rising Analytics Demand & Higher Issuances
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s reaffirmed its FY 2026 EPS outlook of 16.50 to 17.00, which is broadly in line with Street expectations and suggests management sees continued stability after the strong quarter. Moody’s (MCO) Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, underscoring shareholder returns, but this is a routine capital-allocation update rather than a major catalyst. Moody’s declares $1.03 dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appear focused on Moody’s lowered 2026 operating margin guidance, which raises concerns that costs may be offsetting some of the company’s revenue strength and helps explain why the shares have been under pressure despite the earnings beat. Moody’s lowers 2026 operating margin guidance, raises stock repurchases outlook

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade 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 a total of 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.

Moody’s Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $472.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $464.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $464.75. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a market capitalization of $82.53 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.56 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

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.