Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $510.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $495.00 to $510.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MCO opened at $462.80 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $438.56. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,382,000 after acquiring an additional 225,846 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,450,000 after acquiring an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 1,746,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,230,000 after purchasing an additional 173,900 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by 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.