Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price target on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $515.39 on Friday. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $509.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $500.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.