Evercore ISI Raises Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $535.00

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has raised Moody's price target to $535.00, up from $531.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.33% from the stock's previous close.
• Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $543.27, as assessed by various research firms.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.56, exceeding estimates and showing a 4.5% increase compared to the same quarter last year.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $531.00 to $535.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the business services provider's stock. Evercore ISI's target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.33% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MCO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price objective on Moody's and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody's from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moody's from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $543.27.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $476.28 on Tuesday. Moody's has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.25 billion, a PE ratio of 40.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $500.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.75.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,008 shares of company stock valued at $4,603,224 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody's in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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