Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its Moody's stake by 3.7%, selling 14,008 shares and leaving it with 364,487 shares valued at about $186.2 million (≈0.20% of the company) at quarter-end.
• Q4 beat and guidance: Moody's reported $3.64 EPS vs. $3.39 expected and $1.89B revenue (up 13% YoY), and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–17.00.
• Dividend up and insider sales: Moody's raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 ($4.12 annual), while insiders sold 8,222 shares (~$3.79M) last quarter; institutional investors own about 92.11% of the stock.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 364,487 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,008 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Moody's worth $186,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $427.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $445.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.67.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,046,819.53. This trade represents a 1.91% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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