Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 52.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,599 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $401,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 712 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $231,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $428.93 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $445.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $473.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.29.

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.