Geode Capital Management LLC Has $2.02 Billion Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,966 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,019,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 15.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 6.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $450.58 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $445.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $471.56. The firm has a market cap of $78.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $73,689.62. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,473.77. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,680 shares of company stock worth $3,952,188. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.