Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Acquires 12,125 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its Moody’s stake by 10.9% in Q4, buying 12,125 shares and bringing its total holding to 123,837 shares valued at about $63.3 million.
• Moody’s reported Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share, topping estimates, while revenue came in at $2.08 billion versus expectations of $2.11 billion. The company also raised its FY2026 EPS guidance to 16.4-17.0.
• Recent analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $544.29 average price target, though Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock to hold. Meanwhile, insiders including the CEO sold shares in pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trades.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,837 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,125 shares during the period. Moody's accounts for about 1.1% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned 0.07% of Moody's worth $63,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted 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 worth $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 219,251 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 10,311.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 195,926 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 18.4% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $555,052,000 after purchasing an additional 181,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,930,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $489.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $73,689.62. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,473.77. This represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $434.69 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $443.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.29. 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 $75.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. The business'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. On average, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

About Moody's

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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