Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock: Insider Michael West Sells 185 Shares

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Michael West sold 185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.88, for a total transaction of $93,772.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,374 shares in the company, valued at $4,244,613.12. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $528.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $91.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 16,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,905 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.9% in the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,964,000. Finally, 71 West Capital Partners grew its position in Moody’s by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 1,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 target price (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $552.63.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.