Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd Grows Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Alphinity Investment Management grew its stake in Moody's by 180.6% in Q4 to 17,464 shares (worth $8.92M), making MCO its 29th-largest holding and about 0.1% of the fund's portfolio.
• Moody's beat quarterly EPS expectations ($3.64 vs. $3.39), set FY2026 guidance of 16.40–17.00 EPS, and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annualized $4.12, ~0.9% yield).
• Analysts hold a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $541.69, although several firms have recently trimmed their targets.

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 180.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,464 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,241 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for about 0.1% of Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $8,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody's during the second quarter worth $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Moody's during the third quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody's in the third quarter worth $30,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new stake in Moody's in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 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 375 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Moody's from $660.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned 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 price target of $541.69.

Moody's Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $460.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $443.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $477.24. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Moody's's payout ratio 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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