Moody’s Corporation $MCO Holdings Lifted by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 331.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 155,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 119,757 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $79,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,802,195,000 after purchasing an additional 102,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,551,000 after acquiring an additional 42,966 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,023,000 after acquiring an additional 62,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

MCO stock opened at $448.12 on Monday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $78.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $448.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $469.24. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on 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. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. Company 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.