Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Moody's (NYSE:MCO)

Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $565.00 price target on the business services provider's stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MCO. StockNews.com lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody's from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $506.00.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $4.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $466.35. 1,571,463 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,253. Moody's has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $503.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $479.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $462.29. The stock has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. The company's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody's's payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.