Key Points
- Moody’s CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares at an average price of $488, generating approximately $4.85 million. The sale reduced his direct ownership by 53.75% to 8,559 shares.
- Moody’s shares opened at $493.80, with a market capitalization of about $85.1 billion. The company’s latest quarterly results missed analyst expectations, reporting $4.14 in earnings per share and $2.02 billion in revenue.
- Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 13 Buy ratings and seven Holds and a consensus price target of $552.63. Moody’s also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equating to a 0.8% annual yield.
Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,176,792. The trade was a 53.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
Moody's Stock Up 1.0%
NYSE:MCO opened at $493.80 on Friday. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock's fifty day moving average is $477.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.35.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.92 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.
Moody's Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.11%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Evercore lifted their target price on Moody's from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody's from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody's from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $552.63.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Moody's
Institutional Trading of Moody's
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Moody's by 3.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,024,874,000 after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $643,191,000 after purchasing an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $458,126,000 after purchasing an additional 168,528 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Moody's by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,188,000 after buying an additional 59,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.
About Moody's
(
Get Free Report)
Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody's Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.
Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.
Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.
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