Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Reaches New 52-Week High at $418.49

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $418.49 and last traded at $418.49, with a volume of 238709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $76.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.01, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $394.80 and its 200-day moving average is $388.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 87.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.