Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Now Covered by Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $565.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $466.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The firm has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $479.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $463.13.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,382,000 after acquiring an additional 225,846 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.