Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $456.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $456.00.

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $473.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $441.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $408.06. The company has a market cap of $86.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $474.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.