Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $144.88 Million Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 275.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 319,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 234,640 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $144,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.1% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $515.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $484.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $460.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

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.