Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.03

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 21st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.03 per share by the business services provider on Friday, June 5th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th.

Moody’s has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Moody’s has a payout ratio of 26.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Moody’s to earn $18.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.2%.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $467.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $444.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $477.17. 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 capitalization of $83.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 16.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 owned 75,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,046,819.53. This trade represents a 1.91% 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. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.