LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Has $966,000 Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management cut its Moody’s stake by 88% in the first quarter, leaving it with 2,215 shares valued at about $966,000.
• Wall Street sentiment on Moody’s remains positive overall: analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $545.06, and several firms recently raised their targets.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter, with EPS of $4.33 topping estimates, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 88.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,215 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 16,225 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody's during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 1,866.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody's from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Moody's Stock Down 0.0%

MCO stock opened at $487.17 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $455.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.76. The company has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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