Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its Moody’s stake by 7.2% in Q1, buying 59,121 shares and bringing its total holding to 882,973 shares worth about $385.2 million.
• Moody’s recently posted better-than-expected earnings, with Q1 EPS of $4.33 topping estimates, though revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $2.08 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: several firms raised price targets, and the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $550.58.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 882,973 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.51% of Moody's worth $385,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Moody's by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Moody's

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody's this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Moody’s to $600 from $530 and maintained an overweight rating, signaling confidence in the company’s earnings power and upside potential. Benzinga report on JPMorgan price target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary around Q2 suggests stronger global bond issuance volumes, which could support Moody’s ratings and analytics revenue through higher investment-grade, high-yield, and structured-finance activity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several previews ahead of earnings highlight Moody’s as a financially strong company with solid growth prospects, and analysts are broadly bullish on the stock heading into the report. Article on bullish analyst views
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for Moody’s Q2 2026 earnings, with coverage focusing on whether the company can beat estimates and justify its premium valuation. Seeking Alpha earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s also issued a warning on rising Indonesia risks despite the country’s 2.85% deficit target, but this looks more like a macro risk update than a company-specific catalyst. Yahoo Finance article on Indonesia risks
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary notes that Moody’s is trading at a rich earnings multiple ahead of its report, which may weigh on the stock if results do not clearly exceed expectations. Motley Fool valuation article

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $489.25 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $462.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.09. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $85.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody's in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This 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 sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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