Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Bought by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $900,534.95. This trade 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5%

MCO stock opened at $451.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $78.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $447.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $470.24.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 29.53%.

About Moody’s

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.