Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Daiwa America

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by investment analysts at Daiwa America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

MCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.94.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $2.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $532.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 234,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 717,123. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $540.00. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $498.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $498.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.88, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s 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 value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,739 shares of company stock valued at $841,445 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 37,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,262 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the second quarter worth $219,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $303,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $1,559,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.