2,484 Shares in Moody's Corporation $MCO Bought by Dearborn Partners LLC

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners acquired 2,484 Moody’s shares worth approximately $1.125 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of the company.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.68 in earnings per share and $2.19 billion in revenue, with revenue rising 15.1% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $553.61, compared with the stock’s reported price of $509.30.

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,484 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,125,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $914,721,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 worth $876,775,000 after acquiring an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $509.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $88.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.69. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The company's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 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 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Barclays upped their target price on Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Moody's from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $553.61.

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.

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