Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective increased by Oppenheimer from $523.00 to $552.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $521.40.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $504.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.56, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.60. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,923,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 471,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $219,439,000 after purchasing an additional 10,931 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.