Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stock Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Moody’s by 12% in the first quarter, buying 12,726 more shares and bringing its total to 119,174 shares valued at about $52 million.
• Several Moody’s insiders have sold stock recently, including CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele. Insiders sold 4,717 shares worth about $2.14 million over the last three months.
• Moody’s reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 beating estimates, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also maintained a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target of $541.83.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,174 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,726 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.07% of Moody's worth $51,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.5% in the 4th 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. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Moody's by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% 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. Insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $452.19 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $450.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $466.33. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.83.

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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