Insider Selling: Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $890,237.25 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.75, for a total value of $890,237.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,234,163. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Robert Fauber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, October 1st, Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $507.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $478.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.92 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $597.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 target price (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $914,721,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Moody’s by 294.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 387,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,073,000 after purchasing an additional 289,380 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 5,102.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 286,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,860,000 after purchasing an additional 280,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 21,256.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 255,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,803,000 after purchasing an additional 253,806 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants. Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.