UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Buys Shares of 2,850 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,243,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 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 transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $487.17 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $455.50 and a 200-day moving average of $465.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.06.

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.