Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $496.05 and last traded at $494.06, with a volume of 35328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $494.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $89.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $473.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $452.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 133.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,277,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $958,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,434 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. 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.