Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 4,281 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the third quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $477.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $475.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.80. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $82.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

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.