11,464 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Bought by Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.

Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,161,000. Moody’s makes up approximately 1.5% of Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $914,721,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $876,775,000 after purchasing an additional 726,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $484.38 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $474.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $459.09. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $83.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

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.