Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Invests $921,000 in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents 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 90 days, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. Weiss Ratings lowered Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.83.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

MCO opened at $453.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $450.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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