Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Given New $374.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $350.00 to $374.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential downside of 5.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on MCO. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $395.95 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $384.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $375.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 87.7% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.