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

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded down $15.84 on Monday, reaching $478.82. 957,939 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,089. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $468.48 and its 200-day moving average is $424.71. Moody’s has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $87.43 billion, a PE ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 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.