Oppenheimer Boosts Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $543.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price increased by Oppenheimer from $536.00 to $543.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James cut Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $462.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $84.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.48, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $478.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $437.82. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,967,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 53,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,906,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,035,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is 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.