Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $487.77.

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $475.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $86.76 billion, a PE ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $474.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $432.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Moody’s by 392.6% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares in the last quarter. Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at $2,893,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.