Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $501.46 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment 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 target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $506.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $218,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $212,000. EWA LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $216,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 1,120.8% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Moody’s by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 61,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,075,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE MCO opened at $466.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $479.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $463.13. The company has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.