J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 26,737 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 31.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,737 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $24,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $487.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $455.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.76. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% 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 90 days, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho reduced their price target on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.