Corebridge Financial Inc. Cuts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,032 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $20,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after acquiring an additional 63,820 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after acquiring an additional 53,504 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $469.48 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.