Chilton Investment Co. Inc. Grows Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Chilton Investment Co. Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 260,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,698 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 2.5% of Chilton Investment Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. owned about 0.15% of Moody’s worth $124,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $987,524,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,222.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 10,311.9% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,260,000 after acquiring an additional 195,926 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,006,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,360,000 after acquiring an additional 191,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 223.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 102,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 184,598 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $429.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $482.19 and a 200 day moving average of $487.88. The company has a market cap of $76.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,755 shares of company stock worth $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.