BMO Capital Markets Increases Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $481.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $468.00 to $481.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MCO. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.36.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $485.84 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $480.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $472.19. The firm has a market cap of $88.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 19.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 92,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,908,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 31,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,123,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.