Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $543.40.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCO. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:MCO opened at $520.80 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $488.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.31. The company has a market cap of $92.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,154 shares of company stock worth $1,041,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. VestGen Advisors LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. EWA LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.