Fiera Capital Corp Sells 113,197 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp reduced its Moody’s stake by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 113,197 shares and leaving it with 2.37 million shares worth about $1.21 billion.
• Several Moody’s insiders also sold stock recently, including CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele; insiders have sold 4,717 shares over the last 90 days.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share and maintained a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $544.29.

Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,371,939 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 113,197 shares during the period. Moody's comprises approximately 3.8% of Fiera Capital Corp's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned about 1.33% of Moody's worth $1,211,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Moody's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 0.4% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was 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 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.29.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $451.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $78.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $447.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $470.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

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 yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

About Moody's

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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