CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Buys Shares of 21,559 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 21,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,272,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $434.37 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $77.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $472.80 and a 200 day moving average of $485.48. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.