Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon reduced its Moody’s stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 114,626 shares and ending with about 2.28 million shares valued at roughly $1.16 billion.
• Moody’s recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $4.33 EPS versus the $4.22 estimate, while revenue came in at $2.08 billion and rose 8.1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, payable June 5, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” with a $544.29 price target.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,277,238 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 114,626 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.28% of Moody's worth $1,163,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Moody's by 3.6% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $142,041,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Moody's by 135.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $21,837,000 after purchasing an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP purchased a new position in Moody's during the third quarter worth about $4,275,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Moody's by 39.0% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 15,130 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,209,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 51.5% during the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 7,677 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Moody's Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of MCO opened at $453.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.14. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $79.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.35.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The company's 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 analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, 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 value of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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