Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Receives $521.40 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $519.07.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Moody's Stock Up 0.6%

Moody's stock traded up $3.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $502.14. The stock had a trading volume of 441,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,166. Moody's has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $480.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $473.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $90.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that Moody's will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Moody's in the first quarter worth $30,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Moody's by 42.9% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 5,050.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.