Diversified Trust Co Trims Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Diversified Trust Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 49.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,424 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $447.63 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $78.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $450.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.85. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.83.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.