Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $455.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $395.00 to $455.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Barclays raised Moody’s from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $420.27.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $445.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $394.70. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $298.86 and a fifty-two week high of $451.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.28. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. Moody’s had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by 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.