Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by Altarock Partners LP

Altarock Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 64.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 302,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 559,412 shares during the quarter. Moody’s makes up 3.2% of Altarock Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Altarock Partners LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $137,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1,866.7% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $480.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $83.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $491.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $463.60.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.