Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $500.00 at Barclays

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target raised by Barclays from $450.00 to $500.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MCO. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut Moody’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report 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.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $448.50.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $448.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $422.75 and its 200-day moving average is $399.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.72 billion, a PE ratio of 48.99, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $458.24.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid 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 37.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $720,502,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,706,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,594 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 133.9% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $141,336,000. Finally, Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 895,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,781,000 after acquiring an additional 254,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.