Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland Sells 897 Shares

Key Points

• Moody's CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock for approximately $455,891.28, resulting in a 29.46% reduction in their ownership.
• The company reported earnings of $3.56 per share, exceeding expectations and indicating a 4.5% revenue growth compared to the previous year.
• Moody's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with an annualized payout of $3.76 and a dividend yield of 0.73%.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Moody's Trading Down 2.8%

Moody's stock traded down $14.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $501.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,115,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 807,604. The stock has a market cap of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $476.98.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $573.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 55,808.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Moody's during the first quarter worth about $328,595,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 21.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,530,582 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $712,777,000 after acquiring an additional 265,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 142.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,040 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,083,000 after acquiring an additional 238,569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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.