Moody's Corporation $MCO Holdings Decreased by Ninety One North America Inc.

Key Points

• Ninety One North America reduced its Moody’s stake by 6.4% in the third quarter, selling 4,100 shares and retaining 60,000 shares valued at approximately $27.25 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of MCO.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 14 Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $555.74.
• Moody’s reported quarterly earnings of $4.68 per share, beating estimates by $0.42, while revenue rose 15.1% year over year to $2.19 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.03, yielding about 0.9% annually.

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,100 shares during the quarter. Moody's comprises about 1.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $27,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. William Allan Corp raised its position in shares of Moody's by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 3,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,598,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $347,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 269.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,158 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 34.6% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 53.1% in the third quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 902 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Evercore lifted their price target on Moody's from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Moody's from $512.00 to $470.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody's from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $555.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.74.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $18.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $481.00. The company had a trading volume of 469,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,381. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The business's 50-day moving average is $477.53 and its 200 day moving average is $466.10. The company has a market cap of $83.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody's Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.

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