Analysts Set Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Price Target at $527.00

Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $523.43.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 9.2 %

NYSE MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $482.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.