Robert Fauber Sells 1,467 Shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’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 value of $642,208.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,489 shares in the company, valued at $33,046,819.53. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total value 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 value of $305,560.80.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $440.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $78.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $453.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.36. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.