Insider Selling: Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $665,533.89 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Friday, May 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total value of $642,208.59.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $448.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $446.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $470.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $78.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 note on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.