Continuum Advisory LLC Takes $495,000 Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,434 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,247 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% during the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 218,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,796,000 after acquiring an additional 48,240 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $10,272,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $453.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $450.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.15. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $79.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS 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 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 for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% 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 ninety 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.83.

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.