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 that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 Monday, June 1st, Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $484.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $470.95 and a 200 day moving average of $461.51. The firm has a market cap of $83.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.33. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Barclays upped their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.61.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 806.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5,179.4% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 38,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,796,000 after acquiring an additional 38,017 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its position in Moody’s by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,769,000 after purchasing an additional 143,515 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.