Moody's Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its stake in Moody's by 2.1%, selling 17,591 shares and leaving it with 835,862 shares (about 0.47% of the company) valued at roughly $427 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently: CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and SVP Richard Steele sold 375 shares, with insiders offloading 8,222 shares (~$3.79M) over the past 90 days and now owning 0.14% of the stock.
• Moody's topped quarterly estimates (EPS $3.64 vs. $3.39; revenue $1.89B, +13% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of 16.40–17.00 EPS, has an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $541.69 price target, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03.

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 835,862 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,591 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 0.47% of Moody's worth $427,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Moody's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 4.4% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm'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 approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,046,819.53. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $550.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.69.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $455.67 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $442.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $477.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

About Moody's

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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