Key Points
- Moody’s CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares on May 1 at an average price of $466.39 for $684,194, leaving him with 75,189 shares (a 1.91% reduction); the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
- Pattern of insider sales year-to-date: Fauber sold a total of about 8,722 shares across Feb–May for roughly $4.0 million (notable sales: 5,213 shares on Mar 3), indicating ongoing systematic dispositions under the plan.
- Company performance and payout: Moody’s beat Q1 EPS estimates ($4.33 vs. $4.22), reported revenue up 8.1% YoY to $2.08B, set FY2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–$17.00, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 (annual $4.12, ~0.9% yield).
Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) SVP Richard Steele sold 158 shares of Moody'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 $73,689.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $999,473.77. This trade represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Moody's Stock Down 1.3%
Shares of MCO stock opened at $449.64 on Tuesday. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50-day moving average is $448.16 and its 200-day moving average is $476.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 29.53%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $489.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.
Read Our Latest Analysis on MCO
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,802,195,000 after purchasing an additional 102,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,019,551,000 after buying an additional 42,966 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,213,661,000 after buying an additional 111,725 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,211,023,000 after acquiring an additional 62,798 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,097,101,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.
About Moody's
(
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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.
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