Analysts Set Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) PT at $400.50

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $400.50.

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $420.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $402.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $391.66. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $428.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.86 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 10.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

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.