Moody's (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $684,194.13 in Stock

Key Points

• Moody's CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares on May 1 at an average price of $466.39 for a total of $684,194.13 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake to 75,189 shares (a 1.91% cut).
• This sale continues a recent pattern of scheduled disposals by Fauber, who also sold 1,467 shares on April 1 for $642,208.59, 5,213 shares on March 3 for $2,380,829.23, and 575 shares on February 3 for $286,867.50.
• Moody's recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($4.33 vs. $4.22), set FY2026 guidance of 16.40–17.00 EPS, declared a $1.03 quarterly dividend (0.9% yield), and the stock traded down about 1.3% to $449.64 with a market cap near $78.6B and a PE of 32.23.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Wednesday, April 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total value of $642,208.59.
• 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 transaction 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.

Moody's Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE MCO traded down $6.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $449.64. 771,902 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,275,432. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $448.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $476.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.37. Moody's Corporation has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MCO. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Moody's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 4.4% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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