Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $464.00 at BMO Capital Markets

by · The Cerbat Gem

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $455.00 to $464.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential downside of 4.07% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MCO. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $488.46.

View Our Latest Report on MCO

Moody’s Trading Up 0.9 %

MCO stock traded up $4.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $483.71. 37,983 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 738,173. The company has a market cap of $88.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $474.96 and its 200-day moving average is $433.51.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,263,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 381 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,129,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 302.5% in the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Moody’s

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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.

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