Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Declares $0.85 Quarterly Dividend

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 22nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share by the business services provider on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

Moody’s has increased its dividend by an average of 11.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Moody’s has a payout ratio of 26.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Moody’s to earn $12.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.5%.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $468.86. 695,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 743,383. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $478.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $437.39. The stock has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.16, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.