Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $660.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $620.00 to $660.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MCO. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:MCO opened at $539.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Moody’s has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $501.28 and a 200-day moving average of $498.97.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.