Insider Selling: Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells 415 Shares of Stock

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, April 1st, Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $424.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $463.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $474.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 55,808.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $373,879,000 after buying an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 92,060.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 510.8% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.33.

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.