Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Stock: Insider Michael West Sells 9,946 Shares

Key Points

• CEO Michael West sold 9,946 Moody’s shares at an average price of $488, generating approximately $4.85 million and reducing his direct ownership by 53.75% to 8,559 shares.
• Moody’s shares rose 1.0% to $493.80, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed analyst expectations: adjusted EPS was $4.14 versus $4.25 expected, and revenue was $2.02 billion versus $2.08 billion forecast.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equivalent to an annualized $4.12 payout and a 0.8% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $552.63.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total transaction of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,176,792. The trade was a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Moody's Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $4.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $493.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,630,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,056,926. Moody's Corporation has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $477.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Moody's had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.92 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 16.71 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Associated Banc Corp acquired a new position in Moody's in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,807,000. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the third quarter worth $14,897,000. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management acquired a new position in Moody's during the third quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Moody's by 27,622.8% during the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 187,129 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $85,014,000 after purchasing an additional 186,454 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody's from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Moody's from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Moody's to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $552.63.

Moody's Company Profile

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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