Danske Bank A S Acquires New Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 94,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,717,000. Danske Bank A S owned 0.05% of Moody’s as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.1% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.3%

Moody’s stock opened at $497.18 on Thursday. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $476.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $458.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.61.

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.