112,080 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 112,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,895,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.06% of Moody’s as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $486.05 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $465.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $84.18 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued 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 is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

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.