Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,479,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $871,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,041,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Moody’s by 135.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after purchasing an additional 26,388 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $434.37 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $472.80 and a 200-day moving average of $485.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $77.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

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.