Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for Moody’s (MCO)

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

• 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.
• 9/5/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $420.00 to $451.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 9/3/2024 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $460.00 to $514.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 9/3/2024 – Moody’s was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 8/22/2024 – Moody’s was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 8/14/2024 – Moody’s was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 8/13/2024 – Moody’s was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 8/12/2024 – Moody’s is now covered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company. They set an “overweight” rating and a $510.00 price target on the stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $471.40 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $495.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $471.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $86.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 68.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 113,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 3,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 526,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $205,783,000 after purchasing an additional 7,083 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.