Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $454.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $443.00 to $454.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $448.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $448.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $422.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $399.32. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $458.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.