Corient Private Wealth LLC Decreases Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC cut its Moody’s position by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,596 shares and ending with 46,557 shares valued at about $23.9 million.
• Insider selling continued in June, with CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders sold 4,717 shares worth about $2.14 million over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain generally positive on Moody’s, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $541.83; the stock recently traded at $447.63 after Moody’s reported Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share, topping estimates.

Corient Private Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,557 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 25,596 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $23,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Moody's by 50,985.1% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,777,000 after purchasing an additional 419,607 shares during the last quarter. AG Campbell Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,605,000. Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,255,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 382.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,756,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $541.83.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $447.63 on Tuesday. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.85.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Moody's Company 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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