Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $500.00.

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,612 shares of company stock valued at $2,110,119. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $460.50 on Wednesday. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $84.09 billion, a PE ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $477.63 and its 200 day moving average is $440.08.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

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.