PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Acquires Shares of 23,030 Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators disclosed a new stake in Moody’s, buying 23,030 shares valued at about $11.8 million in the fourth quarter.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.33 per share, though revenue came in slightly below estimates at $2.08 billion. The company also issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 16.4 to 17.0.
• Insider activity has leaned toward selling, with CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele both reducing their holdings under Rule 10b5-1 plans. Meanwhile, Moody’s recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equal to a 0.9% annual yield.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 23,030 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,765,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% 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. Insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.5%

MCO stock opened at $451.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $447.29 and its 200 day moving average is $470.24. The stock has a market cap of $78.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently 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. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.29.

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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