Insider Selling: Moody's (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells 415 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Moody's CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock on September 15th for a total of $212,749.75, resulting in a 0.67% decrease in his ownership.
• The firm reported a quarterly EPS of $3.56, exceeding estimates of $3.39 and showing a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.90 billion.
• Moody's declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $512.65, for a total value of $212,749.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,451,077.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• 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 value of $216,401.75.
• On Tuesday, July 15th, Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $508.10. 499,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,146. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $508.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%.Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 31.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 5.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,048 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,214,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 77,500.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 11.9% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 289.8% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody's by 7.9% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,849 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $540.57.

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.

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