Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $492.00 at Oppenheimer

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective upped by Oppenheimer from $454.00 to $492.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Moody’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised Moody’s from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $448.50.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.6 %

MCO stock opened at $448.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 48.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $399.32. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $458.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,613,867,000 after buying an additional 119,450 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,706,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,594 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,918,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,382,000 after purchasing an additional 225,846 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 133.9% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,434 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,980,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,107 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by 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.