Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Given New $392.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $374.00 to $392.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MCO. Barclays raised Moody’s from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $424.00 to $454.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $413.45.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $432.26 on Friday. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $432.78. The firm has a market cap of $78.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.19, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $406.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $392.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given 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 0.79%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 87.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.