Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 207.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,516 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Moody’s by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $876,775,000 after buying an additional 726,971 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 50,985.1% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,777,000 after acquiring an additional 419,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 417,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,424,000 after acquiring an additional 317,245 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2%

Moody’s stock opened at $489.61 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $452.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $466.21. The stock has a market cap of $85.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.83.

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.