Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 275.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 319,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,640 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of Moody’s worth $144,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:MCO opened at $515.69 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $484.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $460.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 company’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% 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. Insiders sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.