Moody's (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider's stock.
Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $329.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $259.00 to $235.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $260.00 to $267.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $302.00 to $289.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $307.67.
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Moody's Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $324.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $297.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.61. Moody's has a fifty-two week low of $230.16 and a fifty-two week high of $354.81. The firm has a market cap of $59.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.26.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. Moody's had a net
margin of 25.13% and a return on equity of 62.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Moody's Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 23rd. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.40%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,924,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 84.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody's by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,315 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,086,000 after buying an additional 1,914 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new position in Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Moody's by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.84% of the company's stock.
Moody's Company Profile
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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.
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