Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Sets New 12-Month High at $491.35

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $491.35 and last traded at $488.18, with a volume of 22573 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $484.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $477.08.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a PE ratio of 52.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $465.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.32.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,766,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,893,000. New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 41.0% in the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,919,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 18.9% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 968 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during 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.