Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $481.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $468.00 to $481.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $485.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $480.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.19. The company has a market cap of $88.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.