William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO)

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at William Blair in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,RTT News reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $522.62.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $484.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.65.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,263,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 21.0% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 674 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 14.1% during the third quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 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.