Bull Harbor Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 15.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 6.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $482.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $468.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $463.02. 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, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.56 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.82 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

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.