Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $506.14 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $506.14.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 10.6% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 99,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,904,000 after acquiring an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 22.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,272,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its position in Moody’s by 10.5% during the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 13,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $471.69 on Monday. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $503.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $479.92 and its 200-day moving average is $470.30. 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 $85.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.