Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 627,123 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,588 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Moody's worth $320,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1,222.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Moody's by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $135,198,000 after purchasing an additional 219,251 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Moody's by 10,311.9% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $94,260,000 after purchasing an additional 195,926 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 18.4% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $555,052,000 after purchasing an additional 181,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $86,930,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business'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 owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 firm'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,473.77. This trade represents a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.

Moody's Price Performance

Moody's stock opened at $454.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.37. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm's 50-day moving average is $448.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $475.85.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio 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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