Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc lowered its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,487 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1,222.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,499,000 after buying an additional 299,724 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $135,198,000 after buying an additional 219,251 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 10,311.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,260,000 after buying an additional 195,926 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $555,052,000 after buying an additional 181,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $86,930,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $73,689.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,473.77. This trade represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $428.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $445.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $474.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

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.