Meritage Portfolio Management Invests $10.05 Million in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management initiated a new position in Moody's, buying 19,679 shares in Q4 valued at approximately $10.05 million.
• Moody's beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $3.64 versus $3.39 and revenue of $1.89 billion (up 13% year-over-year), and set FY2026 guidance of 16.40–17.00 EPS.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 ($4.12 annualized, 0.9% yield); institutional investors own about 92.11% of shares and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $541.69.

Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 19,679 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,053,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Novem Group grew its stake in Moody's by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Novem Group now owns 2,105 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Moody's by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 3,028 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,547,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 791 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Moody's by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,622 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,872,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,470,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $460.33 on Tuesday. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $443.00 and a 200-day moving average of $477.41.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $660.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $541.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,046,819.53. This represents a 1.91% 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 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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