Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Has $5.89 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 246.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,600 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 3,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 459,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,433,000 after purchasing an additional 7,855 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 51,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,452,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,325,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $545.06.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $487.17. The stock had a trading volume of 510,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,152. The firm has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

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 business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

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 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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. 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. Insiders sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.