Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $506.00.

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $473.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.85 billion, a PE ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.50.

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. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

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.