Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 817,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,479 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.46% of Moody’s worth $389,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s 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 five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2%

Moody’s stock opened at $469.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $83.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $489.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $490.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

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.