Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,825 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $35,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $436.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $77.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $458.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $481.60. 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 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.