Johnson Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Johnson Financial Group increased its Moody’s stake by 15.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 20,080 shares valued at about $8.76 million.
• Institutional ownership remains dominant in Moody’s, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 92.11% of the stock, and several firms added to their positions during the quarter.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele, even as analysts stayed broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of about $550.58.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,080 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,667 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $8,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in Moody's by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 11,825 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,343 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's during the first quarter worth approximately $239,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 8.6% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,986 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Moody's by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,188,000 after acquiring an additional 59,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% 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. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Moody's from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.58.

Moody's Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $504.85 on Tuesday. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $88.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $461.65 and a 200-day moving average of $465.24.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.