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

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $465.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,222,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Moody’s by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,285,000 after acquiring an additional 14,344 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 7,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $482.55 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $458.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $417.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.87 billion, a PE ratio of 52.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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 dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

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.