BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Increases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 79,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,033 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $34,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $451.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $450.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a PEG 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.83.

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.