Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Raises Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management increased its stake in Moody's by 12.3% in Q4 to 168,023 shares (~$85.8M), and institutional investors now own about 92.11% of the stock after multiple large funds also added positions.
• Moody's beat Q4 estimates (EPS $3.64 vs. $3.39) with revenue up 13% y/y, set FY2026 guidance of $16.40–17.00 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annual $4.12; yield ~1.0%).

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,023 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,374 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.09% of Moody's worth $85,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Moody's by 1,222.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $154,499,000 after purchasing an additional 299,724 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Moody's by 340.0% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $135,198,000 after purchasing an additional 219,251 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Moody's by 10,311.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $94,260,000 after buying an additional 195,926 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $555,052,000 after buying an additional 181,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Moody's by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 401,396 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $191,259,000 after buying an additional 166,159 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO opened at $427.68 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $445.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $478.67. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.Moody's's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,046,819.53. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Moody's from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody's from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $547.94.

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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