Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $532.49 and last traded at $531.0330, with a volume of 509726 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $498.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.27.

Moody’s Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $494.13 and its 200-day moving average is $496.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.72, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,123 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $100,414,000 after purchasing an additional 93,244 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Moody’s by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after purchasing an additional 98,951 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $714,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.