Key Points
- Moody’s SVP Richard Steele sold 158 shares on June 1 at an average price of $453.67, totaling about $71,680. After the sale, he still held 1,985 shares, and the trade was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
- Moody’s recently reported solid quarterly results, posting $4.33 in EPS versus analyst expectations of $4.22, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $2.08 billion. The company also maintained strong profitability with a net margin of 31.69% and return on equity of 70.97%.
- The company continues to return cash to shareholders with a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, payable June 5, which works out to an annualized dividend of $4.12 and a yield of about 0.9%. Analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $544.29.
Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) SVP Richard Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Moody's Stock Performance
NYSE:MCO opened at $453.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $471.14. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.
Moody's Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.53%.
Institutional Trading of Moody's
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.
Read Our Latest Analysis on MCO
About Moody's
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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