UBS Group Boosts Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $540.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $510.00 to $540.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 3.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.92.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $485.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.39.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Moody’s by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $6,775,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 567.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Moody’s

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.