Weekly Investment Analysts’ Ratings Updates for Moody’s (MCO)

Posted by Michael Walen on Nov 12th, 2024

Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

10/23/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $536.00 to $543.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
10/23/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $490.00 to $512.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
10/23/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $495.00 to $510.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
10/23/2024 – Moody’s was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
10/23/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $454.00 to $459.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
10/15/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $455.00 to $464.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
10/9/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $510.00 to $550.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
10/9/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $451.00 to $462.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
10/9/2024 – Moody’s was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
10/3/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $492.00 to $536.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
10/2/2024 – Moody’s is now covered by analysts at Evercore ISI. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock.
10/1/2024 – Moody’s was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
9/23/2024 – Moody’s was downgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating.
9/23/2024 – Moody’s was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
9/13/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $500.00 to $570.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
9/13/2024 – Moody’s was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MCO stock traded down $1.93 on Tuesday, hitting $476.52. 180,494 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,600. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $86.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $342.16 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $474.27 and a 200 day moving average of $445.61.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Motco grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,283,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,613,867,000 after purchasing an additional 119,450 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9.3% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 98.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,099,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.