Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Now Covered by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $521.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $483.85.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $460.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $472.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $429.84.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related 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 transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, 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 through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 113,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,267,000 after buying an additional 2,402 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $349,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,243,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,755,000 after acquiring an additional 13,098 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.