Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Takes Position in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management initiated a new position in Moody’s, buying 118,321 shares valued at about $60.4 million in the fourth quarter. Institutional investors continue to dominate ownership, holding 92.11% of the stock.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.33 per share for the quarter, though revenue of $2.08 billion came in slightly below estimates. The company also raised its FY 2026 guidance to 16.4–17.0 EPS.
• Several insiders sold shares in early June, including CEO Robert Fauber and SVP Richard G. Steele under pre-arranged trading plans. Separately, Moody’s paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 0.9%.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 118,321 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $60,444,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.07% of Moody's at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $142,041,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434 shares in the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the third quarter worth $4,275,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 39.0% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 15,130 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,209,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 51.5% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 7,677 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 5.4% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,969 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $151,029,000 after acquiring an additional 16,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped 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 note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% 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. Insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MCO opened at $451.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm's 50-day moving average is $447.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $470.24. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend 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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