Egerton Capital UK LLP Buys New Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Egerton Capital UK LLP disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Moody’s, buying 773,409 shares worth about $395.1 million. The position represents 4.3% of the fund’s portfolio and about 0.43% of Moody’s outstanding shares.
• Moody’s reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $4.33 beating estimates, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also issued FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.4 to 17.0.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with funds and hedge funds holding 92.11% of Moody’s stock. At the same time, CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele both sold shares in recent insider transactions.

Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 773,409 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $395,096,000. Moody's makes up 4.3% of Egerton Capital UK LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Egerton Capital UK LLP owned about 0.43% of Moody's as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,802,195,000 after buying an additional 102,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 42,966 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $1,097,101,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Moody's by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $689,517,000 after buying an additional 91,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.0%

MCO stock opened at $451.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $447.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $470.23. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.29.

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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