CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 58.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,214 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,914 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $20,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after purchasing an additional 102,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,551,000 after buying an additional 42,966 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after buying an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted 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 buying an additional 91,463 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MCO opened at $448.81 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $446.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $470.37. The firm has a market cap of $78.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

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.