Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 report released on Tuesday.

MCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE MCO traded down $3.22 on Tuesday, reaching $370.32. The company had a trading volume of 900,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,457. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $385.68 and its 200-day moving average is $368.64. The stock has a market cap of $67.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. 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 52 week low of $296.45 and a 52 week high of $407.62.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.3% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.