Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Mizuho

Analysts at Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a research note issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.48% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $444.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $488.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $482.26. The company has a market cap of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Analysts expect that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.