Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $469,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its position 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price target on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $483.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $470.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.90. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $83.71 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.