MCF Advisors LLC Has $4.57 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 16.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 87.1% in the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $475.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $82.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $491.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.78. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.