Aviva PLC Buys 10,927 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Aviva PLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 10,927 shares to bring its total holdings to 299,729 shares valued at about $153.1 million.
• Wall Street remains generally positive on MCO, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $544.29, even though some analysts trimmed their targets.
• Moody’s reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS estimates with $4.33 per share and lifting revenue 8.1% year over year, while also paying a $1.03 quarterly dividend.

Aviva PLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 299,729 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,927 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.17% of Moody's worth $153,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $441.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $448.51 and a 200 day moving average of $469.45. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

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