StockNews.com Lowers Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) to Hold

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

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MCO opened at $466.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $437.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

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

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

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 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. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.