Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $528.77 Average PT from Analysts

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $528.77.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $461.97 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $489.67 and a 200-day moving average of $482.67. The company has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 4.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,544,000 after purchasing an additional 3,287 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,025.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 182,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,471,000 after purchasing an additional 166,014 shares during the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.6% in the third quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 22,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,593,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.