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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

MCO has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.3 %

MCO stock opened at $375.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $385.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.69. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $68.51 billion, a PE ratio of 43.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 4,900.0% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.