Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $487.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $2.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $473.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,042,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,210. The firm has a market cap of $86.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $473.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $431.14.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 15.7% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Moody’s by 38.1% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 591,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $280,593,000 after purchasing an additional 163,135 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.3% during the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 592 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.9% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.