AdvisorShares Investments LLC Sells 1,142 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

AdvisorShares Investments LLC decreased its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,142 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 1.1% of AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 5.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the fourth 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. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the fourth 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 holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 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 value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was 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. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Weiss Ratings cut Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. 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 research report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.83.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2%

Moody’s stock opened at $489.61 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $85.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $452.09 and its 200 day moving average is $466.21.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.