Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) shares passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $477.40 and traded as high as $489.88. Moody’s shares last traded at $488.5850, with a volume of 864,478 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MCO. Evercore upped their price target on Moody’s from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price objective (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.63.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $477.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.63.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total value of $4,853,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,792. This trade represents a 53.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 12,336 shares of company stock worth $5,984,081 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,024,874,000 after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,191,000 after purchasing an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 20.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,126,000 after purchasing an additional 168,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Moody’s by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,188,000 after buying an additional 59,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.