Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 4,187 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,187 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Moody’s by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 52,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,757,000 after acquiring an additional 3,480 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $489,000. Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,125,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $29,265,000. Finally, Blue Edge Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $514,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $504.64 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $486.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $460.76. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $87.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

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.