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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $487.77.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MCO traded up $2.04 on Wednesday, reaching $473.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,042,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,210. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $473.39 and a 200-day moving average of $431.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.38 billion, a PE ratio of 51.64, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.