Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $374.00

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $350.00 to $374.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the business services provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody's from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upgraded Moody's from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody's from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $400.50.

Moody's Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $6.36 on Tuesday, hitting $394.06. 753,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 737,122. Moody's has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $407.62. The company has a market cap of $71.96 billion, a PE ratio of 43.02, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $384.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $375.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 27.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody's's payout ratio is 37.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody's

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth about $153,532,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Moody's by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's in the third quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,206,000 after buying an additional 11,580 shares during the period. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,479,000 after buying an additional 7,250 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.