Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $16 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,554 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $32,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5%

MCO stock opened at $451.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $447.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $470.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% 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. Insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

About Moody’s

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.