JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 115,332 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in Moody's by 10%, selling 115,332 shares in Q3 and now holds 1,034,134 shares (about 0.58%) valued at roughly $492,777,000.
• Other institutions reshuffled big positions—Norges Bank opened a new stake (~$987,524,000), Two Sigma, Holocene and Balyasny materially increased holdings, and Vanguard owns 15,006,997 shares (~$7.53B); institutional investors account for about 92.11% of the stock.
• Moody's beat quarterly estimates with $3.64 EPS (vs. $3.39 expected), set FY2026 guidance of $16.40–$17.00 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annualized $4.12), while the stock carries a market cap of $78.55B and a PE of 32.26.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,034,134 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 115,332 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.58% of Moody's worth $492,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at $987,524,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1,222.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Moody's by 340.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $135,198,000 after acquiring an additional 219,251 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Moody's by 10,311.9% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $94,260,000 after buying an additional 195,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,527,360,000 after purchasing an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $550.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody's Stock Up 2.0%

MCO stock opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $478.49 and a 200 day moving average of $486.69. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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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