Insider Selling: Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells 415 Shares of Stock

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded up $3.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $503.25. 409,989 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 762,809. 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 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $90.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $485.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $474.10.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.07.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

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