Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $481.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $468.00 to $481.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $484.59 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $471.73. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,631,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 2,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $142,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.