Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $543.0667.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,569 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,848 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 527,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $244,817,000 after purchasing an additional 56,273 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 47,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,287,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 4,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 25,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,955,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4,738.5% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 45,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,023,000 after acquiring an additional 44,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $490.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $87.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.23%.

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.