Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $525.00 to $552.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the business services provider's stock. Robert W. Baird's price objective points to a potential upside of 7.22% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MCO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Moody's from $572.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $536.20.

Moody's Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:MCO traded up $6.96 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $514.84. The company had a trading volume of 196,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 797,844. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.46, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $488.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $475.07. Moody's has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.17. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Moody's by 42.9% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 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.

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