Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 91,463 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $689,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 135.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after buying an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $452.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $489.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

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.