Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $481.00 to $508.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $484.94 and a 200-day moving average of $478.79. The company has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 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.