Insider Selling: Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Sells $133,087.22 in Stock

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Thursday, January 2nd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66.
• On Friday, November 15th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $475.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $470.75. The company has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Haverford Trust Co grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.