Prospera Financial Services Inc Acquires 1,562 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 343.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $73,689.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,473.77. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MCO opened at $450.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $445.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $471.56. 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 stock has a market cap of $78.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.37. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

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.