Moody's (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber Sells 1,467 Shares

Key Points

• Moody's CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares on April 1 at an average price of $437.77 for $642,208.59 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 1.91% to 75,489 shares.
• The April sale follows earlier insider disposals this year (5,213 shares on March 3, 575 on February 3, and 592 on February 2), indicating a pattern of scheduled stock sales by the CEO.
• Moody's recently beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $3.64 vs. $3.39 and revenue of $1.89B (up 13% YoY), set FY2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–$17.00, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 ($4.12 annualized, ~0.9% yield).

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,046,819.53. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Tuesday, March 3rd, Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody's stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23.
• On Tuesday, February 3rd, Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of Moody's stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50.
• On Monday, February 2nd, Robert Fauber sold 592 shares of Moody's stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.15, for a total transaction of $305,560.80.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $440.86. 793,928 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,360,327. The company has a market cap of $78.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company's 50-day moving average price is $454.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $481.02. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's payout ratio is 30.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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