Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $570.00 to $520.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on MCO. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.43.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $478.96.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $2,514,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 867 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $234,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.