Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 2,541 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 74.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 875 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $428.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $445.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $474.04. The company has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.