Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber Sells 281 Shares

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Friday, November 15th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $479.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $478.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $467.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Moody’s by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,191,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 593,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,537,000 after buying an additional 19,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 538.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,361,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.