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

by · The Cerbat Gem

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) 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.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Moody’s

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 – Get Free Report) 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

(Get Free Report

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.

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