87,351 Shares in Moody’s Corporation $MCO Purchased by Danske Bank A S

Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 87,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,621,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,170,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,228,337,000 after acquiring an additional 163,288 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,644,552,000 after purchasing an additional 83,872 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $987,524,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Moody’s by 6.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $689,517,000 after purchasing an additional 91,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 18.4% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $555,052,000 after purchasing an additional 181,305 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.5%

MCO stock opened at $438.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $476.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $486.36. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

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.