Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $572.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $610.00 to $572.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.33.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCO traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $427.17. The stock had a trading volume of 329,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,788. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $76.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $467.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $474.86.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Moody’s by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% during 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. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.