Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Has $66.75 Million Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 29.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,800 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises 2.4% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $66,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 726,971 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 419,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 315.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 417,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,424,000 after buying an additional 317,245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $495.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $456.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.63. The stock has a market cap of $86.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction 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. 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. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.