Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 21.3% in the third quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 4,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 4.8% during the third quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 4.7% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 2,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Makena Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 16.5% during the third quarter. Makena Capital Management LLC now owns 66,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,743,000 after purchasing an additional 9,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $30,473,809.80. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $477.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $493.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $492.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 27.49%.

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.