Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Oppenheimer Analyst Says

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $543.00 to $545.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MCO. Barclays boosted their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.14.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock traded up $2.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $475.38. The stock had a trading volume of 77,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,905. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.