Seilern Investment Management Ltd Sells 1,102 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Seilern Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 23.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for approximately 0.2% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were 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 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 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.9%

MCO opened at $477.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $82.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.33. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $471.89 and a 200 day moving average of $461.15.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

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.