Moody’s Corporation $MCO Stake Boosted by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 146,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,919 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for about 6.2% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $66,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% during the third quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 6.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its position in Moody’s by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,029,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.65.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at $23,370,620. This represents a 1.77% 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. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $4.23 on Wednesday, hitting $448.09. 253,016 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,063,757. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $480.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.90.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.56 EPS. The firm’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. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.