Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $533.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $459.00 to $533.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the business services provider's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target suggests a potential upside of 2.76% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com upgraded Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody's from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody's Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MCO traded down $4.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $518.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,015,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,294. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody's has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $479.39. The company has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a PE ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Analysts predict that Moody's will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

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 Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 11.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Burney Co. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $6,775,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 567.2% during 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 purchasing 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.