Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $374.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $350.00 to $374.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential downside of 5.54% from the stock’s current price.

MCO has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $395.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $384.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $375.15. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors 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.