Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $514.00

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $514.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the business services provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.70% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody's from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody's from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Moody's from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody's from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $460.46.

Moody's Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:MCO traded down $6.02 on Tuesday, reaching $481.72. The stock had a trading volume of 793,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,059. Moody's has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $490.18. The firm's fifty day moving average is $452.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.89. The company has a market cap of $87.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Moody's will post 11.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Moody's during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Moody's by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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.