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

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $506.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company.

Get Our Latest Report on MCO

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $480.38 on Thursday. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $464.62. The firm has a market cap of $87.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value 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 approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value 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. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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