NewEdge Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 65.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,667 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MCO shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 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. This trade represents a 7.37% 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 have sold 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $478.44 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $473.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $459.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $82.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.33. 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 results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 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.