Insider Selling: Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $558,934.65 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, October 28th, Robert Fauber sold 546 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.90, for a total transaction of $269,669.40.
• On Wednesday, October 15th, Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.09, for a total transaction of $199,652.35.
• On Monday, September 15th, Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total transaction of $212,749.75.
• On Friday, August 15th, Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.45, for a total transaction of $216,401.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $482.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $488.43 and a 200-day moving average of $488.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 target price on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $987,524,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $328,595,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $135,968,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.