AE Wealth Management LLC Buys 30,266 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 1,498.3%, buying 30,266 shares in Q4 to hold 32,286 shares valued at about $16.49 million.
• Insiders sold 8,222 shares (~$3.79 million) over the last quarter, including CEO Robert Fauber's 1,467-share sale executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; insiders now own only 0.14% of the stock.
• Moody's beat quarterly estimates (EPS $3.64 vs. $3.39; revenue $1.89B vs. $1.87B), raised FY2026 guidance to $16.40–$17.00 EPS, has a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target of $541.69, and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annualized $4.12, 0.9% yield).

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1,498.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,286 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,266 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $16,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Moody's by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 6.2% during the 2nd 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 position in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Moody's by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,046,819.53. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $541.69.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $455.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $442.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $477.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

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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