Insider Selling: Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Insider Sells $49,336.35 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider Jason Phillips sold 95 Moody’s shares at an average price of $519.33, totaling $49,336.35; he retained 1,799 shares after the sale.
• Moody’s latest quarter missed analyst expectations, reporting EPS of $4.14 versus $4.25 expected and revenue of $2.02 billion versus $2.08 billion expected.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $552.63. Moody’s also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) insider Jason Phillips sold 95 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.33, for a total transaction of $49,336.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $934,274.67. This represents a 5.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded down $9.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $505.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 682,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,941. The company has a market cap of $87.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $477.51 and a 200-day moving average of $467.15. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The business's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 25.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Moody's from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody's

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Moody's in the second quarter worth $914,721,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 72.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $471,963,000 after buying an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Moody's by 5,102.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 286,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $124,860,000 after acquiring an additional 280,712 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 21,256.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 255,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $115,803,000 after acquiring an additional 253,806 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 275.2% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 319,889 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $144,884,000 after acquiring an additional 234,640 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is 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 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.