Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $595.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $573.00 to $595.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $538.80.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.1%

MCO stock opened at $512.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $489.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $475.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,706,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. 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.