Morgan Stanley Increases Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $462.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $451.00 to $462.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 1.88% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.69.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $470.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $473.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $430.55. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.6% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.5% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.7% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.