United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Grows Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd increased its Moody’s stake by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 32,557 shares to reach 119,507 shares worth about $61.1 million.
• Moody’s reported Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also reaffirmed strong forward guidance, setting FY 2026 EPS guidance at 16.4 to 17.0.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, payable June 5, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $544.29.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,507 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,557 shares during the period. Moody's comprises 0.8% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $61,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody's during the second quarter worth about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 15.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 6.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Moody's by 3.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,692,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Moody's by 0.4% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $450.58 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $78.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $445.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.56. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for 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 was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 EPS 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 $1.03 dividend. 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 currently 29.53%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $544.29.

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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