Troy Asset Management Ltd Lowers Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Troy Asset Management Ltd cut its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,443 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for approximately 0.4% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $14,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,802,195,000 after buying an additional 102,682 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after buying an additional 111,725 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,447,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $689,517,000 after acquiring an additional 91,463 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 18.4% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $555,052,000 after acquiring an additional 181,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,122,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $534,812,000 after acquiring an additional 20,619 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $449.30 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $78.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 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 fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $443.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.55.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous 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, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Company 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.