Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $528.77 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings 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 brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $528.77.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group upped 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $449.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business’s 50-day moving average is $489.20 and its 200-day moving average is $482.51. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.