Moody’s (MCO) – Investment Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) in the last few weeks:

• 2/18/2025 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $510.00 to $540.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 2/18/2025 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $481.00 to $531.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 2/14/2025 – Moody’s had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at William Blair.
• 2/14/2025 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $459.00 to $533.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 2/14/2025 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $481.00 to $508.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 1/21/2025 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $468.00 to $481.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 1/3/2025 – Moody’s had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $543.00 to $545.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/24/2024 – Moody’s was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded down $12.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $499.51. The company had a trading volume of 494,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,978. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.29. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $89.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.17%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $140,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 2.9% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 25.9% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after buying an additional 723,721 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by 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.