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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $480.38 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The firm has a market cap of $87.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $479.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.97.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after buying an additional 723,721 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 13.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 416,535 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.