Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Decreases Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan cut its stake in Moody’s by 54.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,735 shares and ending with 9,088 shares worth about $4.64 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted positions in Moody’s, while hedge funds and other institutions still own a large majority of the stock at 92.11%.
• Moody’s reported Q1 earnings above expectations with EPS of $4.33 versus $4.22 expected, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share payable on June 5.

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lowered its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 54.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,088 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,735 shares during the quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Moody's by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Moody's by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 270 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Moody's by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 712 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Moody's by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 33,340 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,032,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $544.29.

Moody's Stock Down 0.9%

MCO opened at $428.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $445.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $474.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research 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 will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 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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