Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Carderock Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Carderock Capital Management cut its Moody’s stake by 19.4% in the second quarter, selling 3,313 shares and retaining 13,750 shares valued at approximately $6.23 million.
• Institutional investors own 92.11% of Moody’s stock, while insiders sold 3,092 shares worth about $1.45 million over the past 90 days.
• Moody’s reported quarterly earnings of $4.68 per share and revenue of $2.19 billion, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $553.61, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Carderock Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,750 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,313 shares during the period. Carderock Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $6,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Moody's by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $876,775,000 after purchasing an additional 726,971 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 50,985.1% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,777,000 after purchasing an additional 419,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, 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 value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moody's from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Moody's Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $483.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $470.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $461.90. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.56 earnings per share. The company'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 analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

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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