Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Stock: Insider Michael West Sells 185 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Michael West sold 185 Moody’s shares at an average price of $506.88, worth about $93,773. He retained 8,374 shares after the sale.
• Moody’s quarterly results fell short of expectations: EPS was $4.14 versus a $4.25 consensus, and revenue was $2.02 billion versus $2.08 billion expected.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and 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) CEO Michael West sold 185 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.88, for a total value of $93,772.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 8,374 shares in the company, valued at $4,244,613.12. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Moody's Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MCO traded down $2.73 on Tuesday, hitting $503.29. The stock had a trading volume of 911,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,550. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market cap of $86.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $477.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $467.49. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 25.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $1,024,874,000 after buying an additional 72,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.4% in 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 worth $643,191,000 after purchasing an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 168,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,188,000 after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Moody's to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Moody's from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody's from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $552.63.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody's Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.

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