Janus Henderson Group PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 94.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 635,049 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,775,000 after acquiring an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in Moody’s by 50,985.1% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,777,000 after buying an additional 419,607 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $483.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $469.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $462.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. 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 on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.61.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’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 directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% 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 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.