Dearborn Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $511.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $88.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $480.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $458.52. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale 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, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.