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

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Wednesday, April 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total transaction of $642,208.59.
• On Tuesday, March 3rd, Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23.
• 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.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $454.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $448.31 and its 200-day moving average is $475.85. The stock has a market cap of $79.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.37. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.