Kestra Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Kestra Advisory Services LLC cut its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 6.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,664 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $17,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MCO stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $487.17. 510,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 996,152. The business’s fifty day moving average is $455.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were 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 trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Moody’s 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.