Diversified Trust Co Sells 3,424 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co cut its Moody’s stake by 49.3% in the first quarter, selling 3,424 shares and leaving it with 3,523 shares valued at about $1.54 million.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.33 per share for the quarter, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also issued FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.40 to 17.00.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 0.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $541.83.

Diversified Trust Co lowered its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 49.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,523 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,424 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Moody's by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $876,775,000 after buying an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Moody's by 50,985.1% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,777,000 after buying an additional 419,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Moody's by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 417,782 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,424,000 after acquiring an additional 317,245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $447.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's fifty day moving average is $450.28 and its 200 day moving average is $467.85. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody's in a report on Thursday. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $541.83.

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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