Moody's' (MCO) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $550.00 target price on the business services provider's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.87.

Moody's Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:MCO traded up $3.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $481.88. The company had a trading volume of 17,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,743. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $453.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $473.22. The company has a market capitalization of $86.69 billion, a PE ratio of 42.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody's will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,899,490,000 after acquiring an additional 119,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Moody's by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $769,085,000 after buying an additional 60,816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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.