BMO Capital Markets Boosts Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $481.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price increased by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $468.00 to $481.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.23% from the stock’s current price.

MCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.36.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $6.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $482.13. The company had a trading volume of 86,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,498. The company has a market capitalization of $87.36 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.73. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.