Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $501.46 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $506.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $212,000. EWA LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $216,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1,120.8% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Moody’s by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 61,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,075,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $473.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $479.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.50. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.