Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Moody’s stake by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 244,994 shares and leaving it with 1.2 million shares valued at about $614.1 million.
• Several other major institutions, including Vanguard and PineStone Asset Management, increased their holdings, and 92.11% of Moody’s stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Moody’s posted better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.33 and raised its FY 2026 guidance to 16.40–17.00 EPS, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,202,111 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 244,994 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.67% of Moody's worth $614,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after acquiring an additional 102,682 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $555,052,000 after acquiring an additional 181,305 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its holdings in Moody's by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,122,423 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,812,000 after acquiring an additional 20,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Moody's by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $389,368,000 after acquiring an additional 17,479 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $73,689.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,473.77. This represents a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $489.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Moody's Trading Up 0.0%

MCO stock opened at $449.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $78.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $444.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $472.28. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued 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%.

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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