CenterBook Partners LP Sells 8,354 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

CenterBook Partners LP lessened its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 78.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,354 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 298,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,041,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 39.0% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 15,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,209,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.4% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $151,029,000 after purchasing an additional 16,099 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 98.3% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 14,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,073,000 after buying an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 24.5% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 23,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,186,000 after buying an additional 4,625 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $450.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $448.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $469.72. The stock has a market cap of $78.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The company 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.