Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Given New $454.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price upped by Oppenheimer from $424.00 to $454.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $406.73.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $425.99 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.51, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.28. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $428.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $405.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $392.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 10.76 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.