Prana Capital Management LP Cuts Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Prana Capital Management LP cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75,269 shares during the quarter. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,272,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 49,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2,715.5% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 62,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,671,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 15.6% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.0%

MCO stock opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $478.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $486.69. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost 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 was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

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.