Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 459,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,855 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $200,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after buying an additional 102,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,551,000 after acquiring an additional 42,966 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,023,000 after acquiring an additional 62,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 worth $1,495,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $511.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $460.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.69. The firm has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

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 firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.47.

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.