Moody’s’ (MCO) Buy (B) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their buy (b) rating on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a report released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Moody’s from $531.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial raised Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.07.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $480.72 on Friday. Moody’s has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $490.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $487.92.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’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. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 30.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 546 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.90, for a total value of $269,669.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,168,399.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,817 shares of company stock valued at $911,315 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.