Vestcor Inc Raises Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 38.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $445.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $489.04. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.