Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $550.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.78% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on MCO. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $487.68 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $455.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.47. The stock has a market cap of $87.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.