Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $514.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $514.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MCO. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.46.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $484.33 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $455.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $415.16. 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 one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $490.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.44 billion, a PE ratio of 52.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28.

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. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 533.5% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. 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.