Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $481.00 to $508.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 2.82% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $484.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.65.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. 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 available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Moody’s by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,826,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $83,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,040,000. Guardian Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $747,000. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2,141.6% during the fourth quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,412,000 after buying an additional 10,922 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.