Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $2,380,829.23 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• 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 Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $472.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $488.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $490.44. Moody’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $84.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. The firm 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BAM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $871,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 647,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 135.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,837,000 after purchasing an additional 26,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.