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

Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $560.9375.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 target price on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $529.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $504.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $499.68.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,170,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,228,337,000 after buying an additional 163,288 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 13,246,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,644,552,000 after buying an additional 83,872 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,888,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,943,418,000 after acquiring an additional 69,455 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after acquiring an additional 111,725 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.