Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target upped by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $459.00 to $533.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 0.80% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on MCO. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $514.57.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $1.31 on Friday, reaching $528.79. The company had a trading volume of 280,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,921. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $95.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $484.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.15.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after buying an additional 63,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.