Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price raised by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $459.00 to $533.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 0.80% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on MCO. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $514.57.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO traded up $1.31 on Friday, hitting $528.79. 280,235 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,921. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $484.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.15. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $95.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after buying an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 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 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.