Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $570.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $500.00 to $570.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Moody’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $477.08.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $476.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $463.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $420.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $490.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.85 billion, a PE ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other 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.