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

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

MCO has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $473.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $85.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $479.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $463.50.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.