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

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $483.33. 529,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,159,666. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $469.68 and its 200 day moving average is $462.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. 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.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 26.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.