BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $468.00 to $481.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.36.

Moody's Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MCO stock traded up $8.74 on Tuesday, reaching $484.59. The company had a trading volume of 731,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,750. Moody's has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $87.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.25, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $480.32 and a 200-day moving average of $471.73.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody's will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody's

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Moody's by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.