Wellington Management Group LLP Raises Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 87.1% in the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $493.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $85.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $489.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $462.63.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The business’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction 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 approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

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.