Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Share Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Moody’s shares rose above their 50-day moving average, trading as high as $489.88 versus a 50-day average of $477.40.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 13 Buy ratings and seven Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $552.63.
• The company’s latest quarter fell short of expectations, reporting $4.14 in adjusted EPS and $2.02 billion in revenue; Moody’s also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, representing a 0.8% yield.

Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $477.40 and traded as high as $489.88. Moody's shares last traded at $488.5850, with a volume of 864,478 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Moody's to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $552.63.

Moody's Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $84.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company's 50-day moving average price is $477.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $467.84.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody's had a return on equity of 84.76% and a net margin of 35.26%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.92 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's payout ratio is 25.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in Moody's by 27,622.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 187,129 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $85,014,000 after buying an additional 186,454 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,507,000. Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 10.2% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,462,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody's Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.

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