CPC Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• CPC Advisors acquired a new position of 3,199 shares in Moody's (NYSE:MCO) during Q4, valued at approximately $1.63 million.
• Insider selling is notable: CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares and SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares on March 3, and insiders have sold 8,222 shares totaling about $3.79 million in the last 90 days (insider ownership 0.14%).
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $541.69 average price target; Moody's beat quarterly EPS ($3.64 vs. $3.39 est.), set FY2026 guidance of $16.40–17.00 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 ($4.12 annualized).

CPC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,199 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in Moody's by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in Moody's by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC raised its position in Moody's by 4.4% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $541.69.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $460.86 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $443.84 and its 200-day moving average is $477.24. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $82.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

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

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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