Insider Selling: Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells 281 Shares of Stock

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, November 15th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock traded up $6.31 on Friday, reaching $479.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 411,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,456. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $478.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $467.06.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 23,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,808,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,693,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 24.2% during the second quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 821 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 70,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,527,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 23.8% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

About Moody’s

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.