Flossbach Von Storch SE Sells 15,599 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Flossbach Von Storch SE trimmed its stake in Moody's by 15.3%, selling 15,599 shares and leaving it with 86,217 shares worth about $44.0 million at quarter-end.
• Moody's reported Q1 EPS of $4.33, beating estimates of $4.22 while revenue was $2.08 billion, and set FY2026 guidance of $16.40–$17.00 EPS (analysts average ~$16.65).
• Insider selling occurred recently, including CEO Robert Fauber's sale of 5,213 shares (≈$2.38 million), with insiders offloading 8,222 shares worth about $3.79 million over the quarter.

Flossbach Von Storch SE cut its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,217 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,599 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE's holdings in Moody's were worth $44,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody's during the second quarter worth about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,692,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $460.92 on Tuesday. 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 current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $447.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $476.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $544.47.

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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