State Street Corp Sells 5,852 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• State Street Corp trimmed its Moody’s position slightly in the fourth quarter, selling 5,852 shares and ending the period with 7,134,082 shares valued at about $3.64 billion.
• Moody’s reported Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share, beating estimates, while revenue came in at $2.08 billion and rose 8.1% year over year. The company also reiterated FY 2026 EPS guidance of 16.40 to 17.00.
• Analysts remain generally constructive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $544.29, though some firms have recently cut targets or downgraded the stock. Moody’s also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, or $4.12 annualized, for a yield of about 0.9%.

State Street Corp lowered its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,134,082 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,852 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 4.00% of Moody's worth $3,644,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $395,096,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake 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. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Moody's Stock Up 1.4%

MCO opened at $448.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $78.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.35. The business's 50-day moving average price is $448.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $469.30. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The company'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. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued 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 payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Moody's Company 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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