Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $464.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price raised by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $455.00 to $464.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential downside of 5.31% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $488.46.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $490.04 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The stock has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a PE ratio of 53.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $476.50 and a 200 day moving average of $434.56.

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. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $141,336,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 41,992.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 279,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,826,000 after purchasing an additional 279,253 shares in the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,781,000 after purchasing an additional 254,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 225,846 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently 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.