Richard Steele Sells 158 Shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) SVP Richard Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $73,689.62. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,473.77. This represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $6.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $449.64. 771,902 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,275,432. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Moody’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $448.16 and a 200-day moving average of $476.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Mizuho decreased 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 report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.