Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Acquires 4,102 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its Moody’s stake by 8.1% in the first quarter, buying 4,102 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 54,649 shares valued at about $23.6 million.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.33 per share for the quarter, though revenue came in slightly below estimates at $2.08 billion. The company also reaffirmed FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.40 to 17.00.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $548.47. Moody’s also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, implying an annual yield of about 0.8%.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,649 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $23,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody's from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $548.47.

Moody's Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of MCO opened at $511.14 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $460.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $465.69. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. 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 16.71 earnings per share for the current 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 $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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