Robert Fauber Sells 415 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, February 18th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22.
• On Thursday, January 2nd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $4.73 during trading on Monday, reaching $397.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,384,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 757,172. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $480.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.24. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody's

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $523.43.

Moody's Company Profile

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.