Legal & General Group Plc Buys 91,463 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Moody's by 6.7%, buying 91,463 shares to hold 1,447,105 shares (about 0.81% of the company) valued at roughly $689.5 million.
• Moody's beat quarterly EPS expectations (reported $3.64 vs. $3.39 consensus), issued FY2026 guidance of $16.40–$17.00 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annualized $4.12, ~0.9% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers recently (CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares; insiders sold 6,755 shares worth ~$3.14M in the last 90 days), while institutional ownership remains high at about 92.11%.

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 91,463 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.81% of Moody's worth $689,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody's in the second quarter worth approximately $987,524,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after buying an additional 191,368 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 223.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 184,598 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Moody's by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 235,237 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $117,987,000 after buying an additional 112,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Moody's by 87.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $100,414,000 after purchasing an additional 93,244 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. 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 business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of MCO opened at $452.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $80.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $486.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $489.35. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.25.

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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