OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Purchases 3,104 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• OMERS Administration Corp increased its Moody’s stake by 52% in the first quarter, purchasing 3,104 additional shares for a total holding of 9,068 shares valued at approximately $3.96 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.11% of MCO.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Moody’s holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $553.61. JPMorgan and Wells Fargo recently raised their price targets to $600 and $597, respectively.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $4.68 versus the $4.26 consensus and revenue of $2.19 billion, up 15.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, representing a 0.8% yield.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 52.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,068 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,104 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 1,866.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody's from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Moody's from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $553.61.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO opened at $486.05 on Tuesday. 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 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $84.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $465.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.03.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.56 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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