World Investment Advisors Acquires 1,176 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 210.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MCO opened at $447.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $450.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.85.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. 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 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.83.

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.