Michael L. West Sells 780 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) insider Michael L. West sold 780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.53, for a total transaction of $242,213.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,586,714.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MCO traded down $2.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $311.07. 482,305 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 982,797. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $57.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.91. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $251.01 and a 12-month high of $407.94.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The business services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.12). Moody’s had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 71.12%. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 19th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 18th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.24%.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $563,519,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its stake in Moody’s by 56.4% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,407,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $812,233,000 after purchasing an additional 868,456 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. raised its stake in Moody’s by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 7,285,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,458,313,000 after purchasing an additional 723,042 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,818,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,616,166,000 after purchasing an additional 646,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 55.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,538,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $519,034,000 after buying an additional 549,004 shares in the last quarter. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $395.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Moody’s from $372.00 to $324.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Moody’s from $298.00 to $283.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. Atlantic Securities cut Moody’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $370.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Moody’s from $363.00 to $342.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $329.25.

Moody’s Company Profile

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Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.