Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $572.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $610.00 to $572.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 33.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on MCO. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.33.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $427.17. The stock had a trading volume of 329,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,788. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $467.13 and its 200-day moving average is $474.86. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after acquiring an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 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.