Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports.

MCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $494.66 on Monday. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $467.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.10. 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 posted its earnings results 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 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%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.