Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $481.00 to $508.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 2.82% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $522.62.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $484.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $478.65. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 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.