Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $540.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $510.00 to $540.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MCO. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $511.27 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $486.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.29. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.