Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management sharply increased its Moody’s stake by 2,846.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 114,735 shares valued at about $58.6 million.
• Moody’s insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele, with about 8,680 shares sold over the last 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.33 and raised full-year guidance, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $544.29.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2,846.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,735 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 110,841 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned approximately 0.06% of Moody's worth $58,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Moody's during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in Moody's during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $73,689.62. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,473.77. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $489.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $544.29.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $428.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $445.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.89.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's'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 analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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