ABC Arbitrage SA Takes $545,000 Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $495.95 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $86.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $456.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $465.63.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 Moody’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 transaction of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents 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. Insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price 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. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.06.

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.