Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Lifted to "Overweight" at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $450.00 target price on the business services provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $375.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody's from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Moody's from $427.00 to $411.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Moody's from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7 %

MCO stock traded down $2.69 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $391.20. 1,178,908 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 728,600. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $387.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.81, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.27. Moody's has a 52-week low of $290.98 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody's had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody's will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,368,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $1,235,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $1,467,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $1,564,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 206,912 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $80,812,000 after acquiring an additional 3,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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.