Mangrove Partners IM LLC Buys New Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Mangrove Partners IM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,079,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $468.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $81.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $449.51 and its 200 day moving average is $468.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

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.