Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Key Points

• Jennison Associates trimmed its stake in Moody's by 20.2% in Q4, selling 3,373 shares and leaving 13,335 shares valued at about $6.81 million.
• CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares on March 3 at an average price of $456.71 for roughly $2.38 million; insiders have sold 8,222 shares (~$3.79 million) in the last 90 days and now own 0.14% of the stock.
• Analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $544.29; Moody's beat quarterly EPS expectations and set FY2026 guidance of 16.40–17.00 EPS.

Jennison Associates LLC lowered its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,335 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,373 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. BAM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the third quarter worth about $871,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Moody's by 3.6% in 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Moody's by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Moody's by 135.7% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $489.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the 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 $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:MCO opened at $456.63 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $448.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $476.05. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $79.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

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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