Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded at Daiwa America

Daiwa America upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

MCO has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $524.00 to $570.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $535.68 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.06, 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. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $540.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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. Research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $558,934.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

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

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.