King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 9,365 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 259,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,365 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.15% of Moody’s worth $123,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter worth approximately $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Moody’s by 135.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,837,000 after purchasing an additional 26,388 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Key Moody’s News

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Moody’s reported non?GAAP EPS of $3.64 (vs. consensus ~ $3.39) and revenue of $1.89B, driven by record investor?services and strong analytics demand; management set FY?2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–$17.00, supporting a constructive outlook. Moodys Corp (MCO) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Record Revenue and Strategic Growth Initiatives
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — Moody’s raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (9.6% increase), payable March 13 with an ex?dividend date of March 2; this modest yield (?0.9%) signals confidence in cash flow and returns capital to shareholders.
• Positive Sentiment: New analyst coverage — Bank of America initiated coverage with a Buy and a $550 price target, highlighting upside from current levels and adding institutional endorsement. Analyst initiation — Bank of America buy, $550 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic expansion — Moody’s opened a regional HQ in Riyadh to deepen Middle East presence as local capital?markets reforms advance; positive for long?term growth but a more gradual catalyst. Moody’s Establishes Regional Headquarters in Saudi Arabia, Deepening Presence in Region
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and near?term expectations — some commentary (and market moves) reflect concerns that the stock already prices in a lot of growth; analysts and commentators warn downside risk if growth or margins slow versus elevated expectations. Moody’s: The Drop Was Expected, Now Looking At 2026

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.15, for a total transaction of $305,560.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,527,474.30. This represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price target on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $450.09 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $498.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $494.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.44.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Moody’s Company 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.