Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 141,999 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 49.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 141,999 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.08% of Moody’s worth $66,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 31.9% in the second quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $469,000. Finally, RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 1,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.61.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $472.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $471.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.04. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $81.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.Moody’s’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock worth $1,447,682. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.