Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Receives $527.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $527.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $465.82 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $83.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $485.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.92.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.