Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA Takes Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Victory Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after purchasing an additional 111,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $440.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $78.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.45. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $454.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $481.02.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MCO. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.25.

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.