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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $543.00 to $545.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.74% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.14.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $479.15 on Friday. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $503.95. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $479.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 206.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $25,191,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 3.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 593,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $284,537,000 after buying an additional 19,609 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 538.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,361,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.