Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 17,387 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 80.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,387 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.83.

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.