Brokerages Set Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Price Target at $397.75

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $397.75.

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $375.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $368.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $68.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.00, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 4,900.0% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.