Quantitative Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Quantitative Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 36.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,474 shares during the quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $1,097,101,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $914,721,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in 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 worth $876,775,000 after acquiring an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.0%

Moody’s stock opened at $504.64 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 stock has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $486.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $460.76. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.56 EPS. The business’s 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.