Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $231.21 Million Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 451,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 45,578 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $231,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AG Campbell Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $4,605,000. Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $153,255,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 382.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $1,756,000. Finally, Tobam increased its position in Moody’s by 24,791.7% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 2,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Weiss Ratings cut Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.83.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MCO opened at $451.20 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $450.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $78.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

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.