Canoe Financial LP Has $170.96 Million Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Canoe Financial LP reduced its stake in Moody’s by 8.0% in the first quarter, selling 34,040 shares and ending with 391,882 shares worth about $170.96 million.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.33 per share, while revenue came in slightly below estimates at $2.08 billion; the company also reiterated FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.4 to 17.0.
• Analysts remain generally positive on Moody’s, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $541.83, even as some firms recently trimmed their ratings.

Canoe Financial LP lessened its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 391,882 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 34,040 shares during the period. Moody's comprises 2.3% of Canoe Financial LP's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Canoe Financial LP owned approximately 0.22% of Moody's worth $170,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after buying an additional 102,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,019,551,000 after acquiring an additional 42,966 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,211,023,000 after acquiring an additional 62,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.83.

Moody's Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $450.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $78.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $450.90 and its 200-day moving average is $466.58.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. 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 presently 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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