Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Given New $520.00 Price Target at Barclays

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price cut by Barclays from $570.00 to $520.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.43.

Moody’s Stock Down 9.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $482.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.