Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Sets New 52-Week High on Strong Earnings

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $520.00 and last traded at $510.52, with a volume of 9931 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $505.44.

The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $540,051. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after acquiring an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $483.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $477.80. The stock has a market cap of $92.51 billion, a PE ratio of 46.62, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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.