Pinebridge Investments LLC Takes Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 36,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,716,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 15.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $451.54 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $447.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $470.24.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.