Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $506.14.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of MCO opened at $452.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $81.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $503.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $479.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $469.73.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.