Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $476.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.98, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $469.02 and its 200-day moving average is $425.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.