HWG Holdings LP Sells 3,068 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• HWG Holdings LP cut its stake in Moody's by 70.6%, selling 3,068 shares and retaining 1,280 shares valued at about $654,000, as institutional investors own roughly 92.11% of the stock.
• CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares for about $2.38M and insiders have sold 6,755 shares (~$3.14M) over the past 90 days, leaving corporate insiders with just 0.14% ownership.
• Moody's beat Q4 estimates (EPS $3.64 vs. $3.39) with revenue up 13% to $1.89B, issued FY2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–$17.00, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annual $4.12, ~1.0% yield).

HWG Holdings LP decreased its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 70.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,280 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,068 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VestGen Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.0% in the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 4.4% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted 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 worth $2,334,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,002 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $427.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $466.63 and a 200-day moving average of $484.01.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.25.

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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