Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $545.00

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Oppenheimer from $543.00 to $545.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider's stock.

MCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody's from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $506.14.

Moody's Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $6.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $479.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 412,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,150. The business has a fifty day moving average of $478.69 and a 200 day moving average of $467.06. Moody's has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a PE ratio of 43.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody's will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position 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 worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 567.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,338,000 after buying an additional 68,674 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,792,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 106.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. 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.