Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $514.85.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Trading Up 4.4 %

NYSE MCO opened at $527.78 on Friday. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $528.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $95.63 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $483.65 and a 200 day moving average of $477.80.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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.