Cidel Asset Management Inc. Takes $8.42 Million Position in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 18,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,418,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 806.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its position in Moody’s by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Moody’s by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,769,000 after purchasing an additional 143,515 shares during the period. Finally, TRB Advisors LP boosted its stake in Moody’s by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. TRB Advisors LP now owns 30,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,326,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.5%

MCO opened at $480.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $491.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.61.

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 governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.