Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $507.36.

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $540,051. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE MCO opened at $512.76 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $483.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $477.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.91 billion, a PE ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $513.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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.