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

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $374.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $384.01 and its 200 day moving average is $369.13.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 10.73 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $153,532,000. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Moody’s by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Moody’s by 323.3% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 44,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,927,000 after purchasing an additional 33,642 shares in the last quarter. 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.