Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

MCO has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $484.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $464.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $421.17. The firm has a market cap of $88.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $490.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Moody’s by 392.6% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after buying an additional 19,660 shares in the last quarter. Motco lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth approximately $2,967,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares during the last quarter. 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.