Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 72,043 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.34% of Moody’s worth $1,024,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $504.92 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $88.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.39.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.06.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was 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 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.