Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $400.00 to $385.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.50% from the company’s previous close.
Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Moody’s from $408.00 to $387.00 in a research note on Friday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $402.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 14th. Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on Moody’s from $475.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moody’s from $417.00 to $378.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $419.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $405.09.
MCO stock opened at $324.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.21. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $275.99 and a 1 year high of $407.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $348.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $370.33.
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 10th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.39 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 91.13% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.
In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.98, for a total transaction of $153,759.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,818,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,616,166,000 after purchasing an additional 646,180 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $147,976,000. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $936,000. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Moody’s by 11.6% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,104,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,102,383,000 after acquiring an additional 322,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Asset Mgmt Ltd purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $90,133,000. 90.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Moody’s Company Profile (Get Rating)
Moody’s Corp. engages in the provision of credit ratings, research, tools and analysis to the global capital markets. It operates through the following segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA). The MIS segment is a credit rating agency, which publishes credit ratings on debt obligations and the entities, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities and commercial paper programs.