Carnegie Investment Counsel Grows Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 348.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,770 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:MCO opened at $495.95 on Tuesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $456.18 and a 200 day moving average of $465.63. The firm has a market cap of $86.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 the 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 sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.