Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

MCO has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody's to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Moody's from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $460.46.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $6.02 on Tuesday, hitting $481.72. The company had a trading volume of 793,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,059. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $453.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $87.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. Moody's has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $490.18.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Moody's will post 11.35 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the first quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Moody's by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is 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.