Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $486.96, but opened at $475.44. Moody’s shares last traded at $468.55, with a volume of 145,035 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $488.46.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $478.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $436.86.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.