Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $510.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $495.00 to $510.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $468.86 on Wednesday. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $298.86 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $478.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $437.61. The company has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.