First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 2,781 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC trimmed its Moody’s stake by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,781 shares and leaving it with 90,816 shares worth about $46.4 million.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.33, though revenue of $2.08 billion slightly missed estimates; the company also raised its FY2026 guidance to $16.40–$17.00 EPS.
• The stock was recently down 2.6% and insider activity has included sales by executives, while analysts currently rate Moody’s Moderate Buy with an average price target of $544.29.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. reduced its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 90,816 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,781 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.05% of Moody's worth $46,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $456.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.35. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $449.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $468.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The business 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%. Moody's's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 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 $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned 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.

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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