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

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

MCO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $487.74 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $488.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.06 billion, a PE ratio of 53.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $452.85 and its 200-day moving average is $413.89.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’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 analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 533.5% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. 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.