Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $620.00 to $660.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Moody’s traded as high as $541.52 and last traded at $545.0790, with a volume of 44594 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $535.98.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.94.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $97.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.79, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $499.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $498.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 presently 30.23%.

About Moody’s

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.