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

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Friday, May 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total value of $642,208.59.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.3%

Moody’s stock opened at $453.39 on Wednesday. Moody’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $445.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $471.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.29.

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.