Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors cut its Moody’s stake by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,832 shares and leaving it with 238,629 shares worth about $123.1 million.
• Moody’s reported stronger-than-expected earnings of $4.33 per share, topping consensus estimates, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $2.08 billion.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $544.29, and Moody’s also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,629 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 19,832 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for approximately 1.6% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Moody's worth $123,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's during the second quarter valued at $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Moody's by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,692,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $489.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.

Moody's Trading Down 1.3%

MCO stock opened at $450.94 on Friday. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The business's 50-day moving average is $448.64 and its 200 day moving average is $475.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $78.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business 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 business's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.