Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.38.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded down $1.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $476.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 740,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,018. The company has a market cap of $86.85 billion, a PE ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $463.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $419.85. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $490.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’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 value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is 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.