Insider Selling: Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells 1,467 Shares

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, June 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.0%

MCO stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $483.33. 529,944 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,159,666. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $469.68 and its 200 day moving average is $462.27. The firm has a market cap of $83.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.82 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. 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, August 14th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.