Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $545.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price boosted by Oppenheimer from $543.00 to $545.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten 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 target price of $506.14.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $479.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $479.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.85. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business 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 earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $2,792,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 106.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.