Pelham Capital Ltd. Acquires New Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Pelham Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 26,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,726,000. Moody’s accounts for about 7.3% of Pelham Capital Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $448.81 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $446.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $470.37. The company has a market capitalization of $78.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

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.