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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MCO. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $15.84 during trading on Monday, reaching $478.82. 957,939 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 735,089. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.43 billion, a PE ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $468.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.71. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $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.