Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors cut its Moody’s stake by 49% in the first quarter, leaving it with 121,671 shares valued at about $53.1 million.
• Moody’s reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 topping estimates, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also gave FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.40 to 17.00.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share and saw insider selling, including CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele under pre-arranged trading plans.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 49.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,671 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 116,958 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Moody's worth $53,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $876,775,000 after purchasing an additional 726,971 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in Moody's by 50,985.1% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $214,777,000 after purchasing an additional 419,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Moody's by 315.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 417,782 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,424,000 after purchasing an additional 317,245 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Up 0.0%

MCO stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $487.17. 510,730 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 996,152. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.07. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34.

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, 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 net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Moody's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% 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 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Mizuho decreased their target price on Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $545.06.

Moody's Company 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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