Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $620.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target upped by Evercore ISI from $540.00 to $620.00 in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MCO. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Moody’s from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.93.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $531.51 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $496.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $497.36. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $540.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. 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 issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business 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 at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,574,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,123 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 200,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,414,000 after purchasing an additional 93,244 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 19.6% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 604,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,502,000 after buying an additional 98,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $714,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.