Moody’s Corporation $MCO Holdings Boosted by XXEC Inc.

XXEC Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 484.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,395 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for about 5.9% of XXEC Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. XXEC Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $30,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $453.12 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $450.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

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.