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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target raised by Oppenheimer from $543.00 to $545.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.65% from the stock’s previous close.

MCO has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $2.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $475.38. The company had a trading volume of 77,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,905. The firm has a market cap of $86.14 billion, a PE ratio of 43.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.06.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its 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 return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.