Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $382.00.

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $375.00 to $331.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $395.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $360.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 4th.

In other news, Director Raymond W. Mcdaniel sold 10,000 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.41, for a total value of $2,994,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,216,973.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Moody’s by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,014,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $730,094,000 after acquiring an additional 130,904 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 133,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,257,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $249,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Moody’s by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,800,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of MCO opened at $288.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $321.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $351.58. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $276.79 and a twelve month high of $407.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89. Moody’s had a return on equity of 79.22% and a net margin of 32.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Moody’s will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 20th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 19th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 26.52%.

Moody’s Company Profile (Get Rating)

Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.

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