Analysts Set Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Price Target at $519.40

Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $519.40.

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,815,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,899,490,000 after acquiring an additional 119,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,738,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Moody's by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,651,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $769,085,000 after purchasing an additional 60,816 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $2.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $481.31. 490,213 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 762,251. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a PE ratio of 42.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $458.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $473.76. Moody's has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Analysts anticipate that Moody's will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

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.