Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Diversify Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Diversify Wealth Management cut its Moody’s stake by 90.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,924 shares and ending with 975 shares valued at about $521,000.
• Insider selling also picked up, with CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele both selling shares on March 3; insiders have sold 8,680 shares worth $3.95 million over the past 90 days.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.33 versus the $4.22 estimate, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $2.08 billion; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Diversify Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 90.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 975 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,924 shares during the quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after purchasing an additional 102,682 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after purchasing an additional 111,725 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $689,517,000 after purchasing an additional 91,463 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $555,052,000 after purchasing an additional 181,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,122,423 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,812,000 after purchasing an additional 20,619 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.

Moody's Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $450.94 on Monday. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $78.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $448.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $475.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's payout ratio is 29.53%.

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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