HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its Moody’s stake by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,343 shares and ending with 238,004 shares valued at about $121.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Moody’s carrying a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.29, though several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Moody’s reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.33 per share, beating estimates, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share to be paid on June 5.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,004 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,343 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Moody's worth $121,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in 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 during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in 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 valued at $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in 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 valued at $36,423,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $489.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 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 $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $434.69 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $443.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $473.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.37.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 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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