Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $560.9375.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Wall Street Zen raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.3%

MCO opened at $518.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $507.26 and its 200 day moving average is $500.08. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.