Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

MCO has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $370.32 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62. The firm has a market cap of $67.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $385.68 and a 200-day moving average of $368.64.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s will post 10.67 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.95%.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Markel Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 212,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at $1,078,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 8.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in Moody’s by 2.3% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 30,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,457,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.