Barclays Boosts Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $580.00

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $520.00 to $580.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Barclays's target price suggests a potential upside of 12.66% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $536.20.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded up $6.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $514.84. 196,520 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 797,844. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $488.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $475.07.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at $31,153,412.40. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Moody's by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 113,273 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,620,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Moody's by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,766 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Moody's by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 111,211 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,644,000 after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Moody's by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,886 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $121,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,463 shares in 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.

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