Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock: Insider Michael West Sells 195 Shares

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Michael West sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.23, for a total value of $103,199.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 8,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,328,572.17. This represents a 2.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MCO opened at $505.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $477.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $467.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,024,874,000 after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,191,000 after buying an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,126,000 after acquiring an additional 168,528 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,188,000 after acquiring an additional 59,121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price objective (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.

The company traces its roots to 1900, when John Moody began publishing financial analyses of railroad securities.