PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Purchases Shares of 168,551 Moody’s Corporation $MCO

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 168,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $86,930,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Moody’s by 1,222.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 340.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,198,000 after purchasing an additional 219,251 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 10,311.9% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,260,000 after purchasing an additional 195,926 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 18.4% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,164,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $555,052,000 after purchasing an additional 181,305 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 70.6% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 401,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $191,259,000 after purchasing an additional 166,159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $456.63 on Friday. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $79.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $448.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $476.03. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given 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, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 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 $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

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.