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

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $515.87.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $489.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $449.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $472.42. The company has a market cap of $88.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

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.