Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Acquired by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 24.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $11,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.3% in the third quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 55.2% in the third quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 229,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,116,000 after purchasing an additional 81,404 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Moody’s by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 12,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,831,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.15, for a total value of $305,560.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,527,474.30. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $477.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $493.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $491.75. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $84.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

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.