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

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $400.50.

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MCO opened at $419.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $76.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $428.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $399.82 and a 200 day moving average of $390.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 10.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,389,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Moody’s by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Moody’s by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 679,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,285,000 after buying an additional 14,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,769,000 after acquiring an additional 24,335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.