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

Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $138,932.02.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22.
• On Thursday, January 2nd, Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66.

Moody's Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE MCO traded down $11.76 on Friday, reaching $499.86. The company had a trading volume of 474,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,331. The stock has a market cap of $89.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.43, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The stock's 50 day moving average is $486.89 and its 200-day moving average is $480.29. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 30.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Moody's by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Moody's by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.