62,412 Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Curated Wealth Partners LLC

Key Points

• Curated Wealth Partners LLC cut its Moody’s stake by 97.7% in the third quarter, selling 62,412 shares and retaining 1,482 shares valued at approximately $673,000. Institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $555.74, despite recent target reductions from Morgan Stanley and BMO Capital Markets.
• Moody’s recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while maintaining fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $16.50–$17.00. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.03, representing a 0.9% annualized yield.

Curated Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,482 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 62,412 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Allan Corp grew its position in shares of Moody's by 3.1% during the third quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 3,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the third quarter worth $347,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Moody's by 269.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,158 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 34.6% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 53.1% during the third quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 902 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale 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. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Moody's from $512.00 to $470.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on Moody's from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.74.

Key Stories Impacting Moody's

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody's this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moody’s shares surged in after-hours trading, adding approximately $3 billion to the company’s market capitalization. The move indicates strong near-term investor demand, although the report did not identify a specific fundamental catalyst. Moody's Surges 4% After Hours, Adding Roughly $3 Billion in Market Cap
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target to $555 from $570 but maintained an Overweight rating. The revised target still implies meaningful upside from the referenced trading level, suggesting the bank remains constructive on Moody’s long-term earnings outlook. JPMorgan Adjusts Price Target on Moody's to $555 From $570
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s is scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday. The event is a near-term catalyst, with investors focused on whether revenue growth, credit-market activity and the company’s full-year earnings guidance support current valuation levels. Moody's Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting a more balanced view of the stock’s valuation and growth prospects. Moody's Gets a Hold from Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets issued a pessimistic forecast for MCO, adding pressure to the outlook as investors assess whether the stock’s premium valuation is justified. BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Moody's Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks said Moody’s lacks the preferred combination of factors for a likely earnings beat in the upcoming report, raising the risk of a disappointing result or cautious guidance. Moody's Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy?

Moody's Price Performance

MCO opened at $484.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.52. The firm has a market cap of $83.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.35. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%. The company's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.56 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Moody's Profile

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody's Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.

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