UBS Group Boosts Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $540.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $510.00 to $540.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.01% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $519.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $486.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.07. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,775,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares during the period. 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.