Mizuho Initiates Coverage on Moody’s (NYSE:MCO)

Stock analysts at Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.12% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.0 %

MCO opened at $437.81 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $487.28 and a 200-day moving average of $481.67. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $78.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.