Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Johnson Financial Group Inc.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 37,816.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,177 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VestGen Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased 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 worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $425.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $75.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $483.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $488.60. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. 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. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

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.