JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $585.00 to $495.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.33.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.3 %

MCO opened at $424.40 on Wednesday. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $465.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $474.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,738,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Moody’s by 20.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 16.1% during the 4th 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 worth $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.