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

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $515.87.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2%

Moody’s stock opened at $471.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $451.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $472.99. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 55,808.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $373,879,000 after purchasing an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $328,595,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.