Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden boosted its Moody’s stake by 65.8% in the first quarter, buying 30,750 additional shares and bringing its total to 77,513 shares worth about $33.8 million.
• Moody’s reported Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also reaffirmed confidence with FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.40 to 17.00.
• The stock has drawn mostly positive analyst coverage, with several firms maintaining buy/overweight views and an average price target of $541.83, though there were a couple of recent downgrades. Moody’s also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equal to a 0.8% yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 65.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,513 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 30,750 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Moody's were worth $33,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $489.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $451.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $466.05.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.83.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% 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 valued at $1,495,098 in the last ninety days. Company 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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