Norris Perne & French LLP MI Has $28.23 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,368 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises about 1.9% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $28,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 5,762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Third View Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $486,000. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dara Capital US Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $719,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Moody’s from $660.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.69.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.9%

MCO stock opened at $439.77 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $443.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $478.44. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Moody’s 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.