BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $481.00 to $531.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.38% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.8 %

MCO stock traded down $4.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $518.66. 632,704 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 721,245. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $485.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.39. The company has a market capitalization of $93.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. 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 results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. 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.