Auto Owners Insurance Co Has $214.78 Million Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 50,985.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 420,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 419,607 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $214,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.83.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $451.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $450.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $468.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.