Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $536.00 at Oppenheimer

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target hoisted by Oppenheimer from $492.00 to $536.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $483.85.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $460.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $495.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $472.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $429.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 113,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,243,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,755,000 after purchasing an additional 13,098 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 24,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,634,000 after purchasing an additional 19,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 223,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,194,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.