Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 574,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 92,859 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $293,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after buying an additional 102,682 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,551,000 after acquiring an additional 42,966 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,023,000 after acquiring an additional 62,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE:MCO opened at $468.97 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $81.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. 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 50-day simple moving average of $449.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders 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 was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment 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, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.29.

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.