Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 111.7% in Q3 to 118,872 shares (about $56.64M), making MCO its 11th-largest holding and roughly 1.3% of Ceredex's portfolio.
• Moody's beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.64 vs. $3.39 and revenue of $1.89B (up 13% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of 16.40–17.00 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annualized $4.12, ~0.9% yield).
• Analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $550.25 price target (several firms raised targets, including Wells Fargo to $660), while institutional investors own about 92.11% of Moody's shares.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 111.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,872 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 62,713 shares during the period. Moody's comprises about 1.3% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $56,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at about $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 135.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $21,837,000 after buying an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Moody's by 1.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after buying an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody's from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $462.81 on Tuesday. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $487.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $489.79. The firm has a market cap of $82.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 2.44 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 in the last 90 days. 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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