Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Shares Down 4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Moody's Corporation shares fell by 4% during trading, reaching a low of $493.78 after closing at $511.77, with trading volume down 44% from average levels.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Moody's, with Barclays and JPMorgan setting targets of $580.00 and $565.00 respectively, reflecting overall positive sentiment with a consensus price target of $540.57.
• Moody's recently reported quarterly earnings of $3.56 per share, surpassing estimates, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, amounting to an annual yield of 0.8%.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $493.78 and last traded at $491.04. Approximately 432,505 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 766,626 shares. The stock had previously closed at $511.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.57.

Moody's Stock Down 5.6%

The firm has a market cap of $86.51 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $509.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $480.08.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.28 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,457 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.83, for a total value of $741,365.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $705,238.38. This trade represents a 51.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.