Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Outperform Rating for Moody's (NYSE:MCO)

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $550.00 target price on the business services provider's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.78% from the stock's previous close.

MCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.40.

Moody's Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:MCO traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $487.68. 511,436 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 764,476. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $454.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody's

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Moody's by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Moody's by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,712,000 after buying an additional 31,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently 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.