UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $510.00 to $540.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MCO. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $511.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $92.03 billion, a PE ratio of 45.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 30.17%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Carson Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.