Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Insider Sells $1,083,701.60 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's Corporation stock for a total of $1,083,701.60, reducing his ownership by 27.61%.
• Moody's reported a earnings per share of $3.56 for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates and generating revenue of $1.90 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, which is set to be paid on September 5th, representing a yield of 0.7%.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total transaction of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. This trade represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Moody's Trading Up 0.6%

MCO traded up $2.96 during trading on Thursday, hitting $515.58. 1,256,869 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,947. Moody's Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $490.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $476.58. The firm has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Moody's by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

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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