Some Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President of Moody's Analytics, Stephen Tulenko, recently sold a substantial US$1.1m worth of stock at a price of US$511 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 28%, which is notable but not too bad.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Moody's
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, Robert Fauber, for US$1.5m worth of shares, at about US$494 per share. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$501, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 4.5% of Robert Fauber's holding.
Insiders in Moody's didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
See our latest analysis for Moody's
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
Insider Ownership Of Moody's
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.09% of Moody's shares, worth about US$86m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Do The Moody's Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insiders sold Moody's shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. On the plus side, Moody's makes money, and is growing profits. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Moody's you should know about.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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