Moody’s Corporation $MCO Position Cut by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,127 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $871,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Moody’s by 135.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after acquiring an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Katamaran Capital LLP bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $4,275,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $489.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $73,689.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,473.77. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:MCO opened at $450.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $448.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $475.61. The stock has a market cap of $78.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Moody’s 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.