7,800 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,403,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Moody’s by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $876,775,000 after acquiring an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Moody’s by 50,985.1% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,777,000 after acquiring an additional 419,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 417,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,424,000 after acquiring an additional 317,245 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 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 $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $450.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $450.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.83.

Moody’s Company 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.