Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 3,594 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH cut its Moody’s position by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,594 shares and leaving it with 9,142 shares worth about $4.75 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on Moody’s, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $544.29, even though some firms recently trimmed their price objectives.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.33 per share for the quarter, raised its FY2026 EPS guidance to 16.4-17.0, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,142 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,594 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MCO opened at $449.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $448.02 and a 200 day moving average of $469.88. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $78.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

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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