Prana Capital Management LP Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Prana Capital Management LP cut its holdings in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75,269 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE MCO opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $478.49 and a 200-day moving average of $486.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other 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 transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.