2,534 Shares in Moody's Corporation $MCO Purchased by Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC

Key Points

• Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC opened a new position in Moody’s, buying 2,534 shares in the fourth quarter worth about $1.29 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele both trimming holdings; insiders have sold 4,717 shares over the past 90 days.
• Moody’s reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS expectations with $4.33 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $541.83.

Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,534 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,294,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MCO. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.83.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock opened at $451.20 on Friday. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. 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 $78.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $450.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $468.26.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.