Richard Steele Sells 375 Shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) SVP Richard Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’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 value of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $6.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $471.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,395,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,763. The stock has a market cap of $83.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $491.79 and its 200-day moving average is $490.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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 set a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

About Moody’s

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.