Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

27 Sep 2024, 11:15 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other research firms have also commented on MCO. Barclays boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $477.08.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on MCO

Moody’s Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $474.02 on Monday. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a market cap of $86.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.72, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $469.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.72.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.6% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the second quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 7,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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