Key Points
- Moody’s insider Jason Phillips sold 95 shares for $49,336 at an average price of $519.33, reducing his direct holdings by 5.02% to 1,799 shares.
- Shares fell $9.45 to $505.89 on Friday. In its latest quarter, Moody’s reported EPS of $4.14 and revenue of $2.02 billion, both below analyst expectations.
- Moody’s announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, equivalent to $4.12 annualized and a 0.8% yield; analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with a $552.63 average price target.
Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) insider Jason Phillips sold 95 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.33, for a total value of $49,336.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $934,274.67. This trade represents a 5.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
Moody's Price Performance
Shares of Moody's stock traded down $9.45 on Friday, hitting $505.89. 682,444 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 920,566. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.10. Moody's Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.92 EPS. Research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Moody's Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.11%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of 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 increased 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody's from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Moody's from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $552.63.
View Our Latest Analysis on MCO
Institutional Trading of Moody's
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,897,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.3% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 500,927 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $226,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,083,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Moody's by 806.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the period. Finally, Ironvine Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 4.1% during the second quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 85,200 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.
About Moody's
(
Get Free Report)
Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and risk-analysis services. Through Moody's Investors Service, it assesses the creditworthiness of businesses, governments and financial instruments, providing ratings and related research to investors and other market participants.
Its Moody's Analytics business offers data, software and analytical tools used in areas such as credit and financial risk management, compliance, and economic research. The company serves clients across international markets, including financial institutions, corporations, governments and investors.
The company traces its roots to 1900, when John Moody began publishing financial analyses of railroad securities.
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