Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) PT Raised to $543.00 at Oppenheimer

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price upped by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $536.00 to $543.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target points to a potential upside of 16.10% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.54.

Moody’s Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $467.69 on Wednesday. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $478.09 and its 200-day moving average is $437.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.40 billion, a PE ratio of 51.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.