Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $514.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $514.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $465.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $475.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $457.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $416.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.90, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $490.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 11.35 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the first 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.