Insider Selling: Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $890,237.25 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.75, for a total value of $890,237.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,234,163. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 Thursday, October 1st, Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2%

MCO traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $510.05. 936,076 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,217. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $477.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $467.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $597.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $552.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneAscent Family Office LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $244,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 148.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 82 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 8,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,008,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 26.4% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 371,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $168,720,000 after purchasing an additional 77,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 170.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 116,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,134,000 after purchasing an additional 73,216 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody’s Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants. Its Moody’s Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.