Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $348.67.
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $372.00 to $324.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 2nd. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $395.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Barclays lowered shares of Moody’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $350.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $308.00 to $288.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday.
Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $289.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $311.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.35. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $269.47 and a 1-year high of $407.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 79.22% and a net margin of 32.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 10.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 20th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 19th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 26.52%.
In other Moody’s news, Director Raymond W. Mcdaniel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.41, for a total value of $2,994,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 57,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,216,973.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 771,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $260,366,000 after acquiring an additional 141,946 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 31.9% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 28,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,473,000 after acquiring an additional 6,791 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 610.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.6% in the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,254,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,098,227,000 after acquiring an additional 174,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 230.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.43% of the company’s stock.
Moody’s Company Profile (Get Rating)
Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Investors Service and Moody’s Analytics. The Moody’s Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.