Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP cut its Moody's stake by 76.2% in Q3, selling 321,630 shares and leaving 100,537 shares valued at about $47.9 million.
• Moody's beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.64 EPS vs. $3.39 est. and $1.89B revenue vs. $1.87B, while issuing FY2026 guidance of $16.40–$17.00 EPS; analysts’ consensus price target is $550.25 with an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Dividend raised and insider selling noted: Moody's increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 ($4.12 annual, ~0.9% yield), and insiders (including the CEO and an SVP) have recently sold shares amid high institutional ownership (~92.11%).

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,537 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 321,630 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Moody's worth $47,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,170,285 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,228,337,000 after purchasing an additional 163,288 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,644,552,000 after purchasing an additional 83,872 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,943,418,000 after purchasing an additional 69,455 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody's during the second quarter worth approximately $987,524,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $445.68 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $485.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $489.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $79.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.45. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by 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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