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

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. 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 Monday, February 3rd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22.
• On Thursday, January 2nd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $511.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $486.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $480.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.03 billion, a PE ratio of 45.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.17%.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Moody’s by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 175,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,183,000 after buying an additional 38,014 shares in the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Fin Capital Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 4,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

About Moody’s

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.