Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) SVP Sells $71,679.86 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) SVP Richard Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.1%

MCO opened at $448.81 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $446.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $470.37. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DV Trading LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,059,000 after buying an additional 3,667 shares during the period. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,127,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Grp LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.29.

About Moody’s

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.