MCO vs MSCI vs MA Stock Comparison

Moodys, Msci and Mastercard Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MCO Moodys Corp /De/
$473.76 +1.0% 1M -4.3% 1Y
Market cap
$82.25B
P/E
28.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.18B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
3 wins
MSCI MSCI Inc.
$601.75 +9.1% 1M +10.0% 1Y
Market cap
$43.68B
P/E
31.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.43B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
2 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$609.78 +7.4% 1M +6.5% 1Y
Market cap
$540.67B
P/E
33.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 7, Moodys 3, Msci 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMCOMSCIMALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $82.25B $43.68B $540.67B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 28.5x 31.6x 33.3x MCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.4x 29.0x 29.1x MCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.0% +12.3% +16.0% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 35.3% 40.3% 46.3% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 27.9% 44.1% 59.0% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 3.1x 0.6x MA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% MSCI
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.3% +10.0% +6.5% MSCI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.1%/yr -1.7%/yr +12.9%/yr MA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.4% 30.9% 22.7% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 53/100 53/100 MCO

Percentile Scorecard

MCOMSCIMA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMCOMSCIMA
Valuation 19 #758 of 940 23 #727 of 940 14 #809 of 940
Growth 73 #179 of 655 58 #275 of 655 66 #226 of 655
Profitability 96 #25 of 633 97 #19 of 633 99 #8 of 633
Financial Health 53 #338 of 714 26 #526 of 714 49 #363 of 714
Shareholder Returns 61 #279 of 709 61 #275 of 709 36 #457 of 709
Overall 60 53 53
  • MCO ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • MSCI ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • MA ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMCOMSCIMASPY
1 month +1.0%+9.1%+7.4% -0.2%
3 months -2.2%+3.8%+8.4% +3.9%
6 months +3.4%+1.2%+20.1% +8.2%
Year to date -7.3%+4.9%+6.8% +12.9%
1 year -4.3%+10.0%+6.5% +12.3%
3 years +56.9%+26.4%+67.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +16.2%+8.1%+18.8% +23.3%
5 years +16.5%-8.2%+83.1% +67.9%
5 years, per year +3.1%-1.7%+12.9% +10.9%
10 years +363.7%+656.0%+488.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +16.6%+22.4%+19.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMCOMSCIMASPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.4%30.9%22.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.3%31.9%22.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.480.300.26 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.150.320.29 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.2%-43.9%-28.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.2%-6.5%-3.6% -1.2%
52-week high $539.61$643.83$632.81 $779.14
52-week low $412.23$511.84$471.55 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMCOMSCIMA
P/E now vs peer median 28.4xmedian 13.0x 31.4xmedian 13.0x 33.1xmedian 13.0x
P/S now vs peer median 10.0xmedian 3.2x 12.6xmedian 3.2x 15.1xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.0xmedian 7.4x 23.4xmedian 7.4x 22.6xmedian 7.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.4xmedian 10.8x 27.4xmedian 10.8x 31.8xmedian 10.8x
P/B now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 1.2x -14.3xmedian 1.2x 94.6xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.07median 0.87 1.89median 0.87 1.69median 0.87

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMCOMSCIMA
Revenue $8.18B $3.43B $35.08B
Gross profit $6.10B $2.85B –
Operating income $3.64B $1.91B $20.47B
Net income $2.89B $1.38B $16.26B
Free cash flow $2.98B $1.58B $16.70B
R&D – $184.30M –
EPS (diluted) $16.64 $19.14 $18.41
Cash & equivalents $1.51B $261.00M $11.29B
Total debt $6.91B $6.72B $81.59B
Shares (diluted) 173.30M 72.30M 883.00M
Enterprise value $75.18B $42.16B $500.60B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMCOMSCIMA
P/E 28.4x 31.4x 33.1x
P/FCF 27.4x 27.4x 31.8x
P/Operating cash flow 24.5x 26.7x 30.4x
P/S 10.0x 12.6x 15.1x
P/B 23.9x -14.3x 94.6x
P/Tangible book 47.5x -11.0x 3,662x
EV/EBITDA 21.0x 23.4x 22.6x
EV/EBIT 23.9x 26.0x 26.6x
EV/Revenue 10.6x 14.5x 15.5x
EV/FCF 29.2x 31.5x 32.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.1x 30.7x 31.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.07 1.89 1.69

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMCOMSCIMA
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.0% 12.3% 16.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 12.4% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.3% 13.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 12.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 16.0% 15.4% 21.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.3% 13.0% 16.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 28.5% 13.1% 19.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 24.0% 13.0% 16.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 33.1% 19.8% 23.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.5% 16.6% 19.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.5% 6.4% 2.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.5% 11.6% 14.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.1% 6.7% 0.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.8% 11.4% 14.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMCOMSCIMA
Gross margin 74.6% 82.9% –
EBITDA margin 50.6% 61.6% 68.6%
Operating margin 44.6% 55.7% 58.3%
Pretax margin 45.2% 47.3% 57.5%
Net margin 35.3% 40.3% 46.3%
FCF margin 36.4% 45.9% 47.6%
Operating cash flow margin 40.7% 47.0% 49.7%
Return on equity 87.8% – 263.6%
Return on assets 19.6% 24.7% 29.5%
Return on invested capital 27.9% 44.1% 59.0%
Return on capital employed 31.8% 47.5% 68.1%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 2.8% 3.7% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMCOMSCIMA
Debt / assets 46.6% 120.0% 42.7%
Debt / equity 2.0x -2.2x 4.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 3.1x 0.6x
Debt / FCF 2.3x 4.3x 1.5x
Liabilities / assets 77.0% 153.9% 90.3%
Equity / assets 23.0% -53.9% 9.7%
Interest coverage – 6.9x 27.4x
Current ratio 1.3x 0.8x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 7.58 6.21 10.15

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMCOMSCIMA
Dividend yield 0.9% 1.3% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 3.6% 4.7% 3.0%
Shareholder yield 4.5% 6.0% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 24.6% 42.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 23.8% 37.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.0% 6.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.8% 10.5% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMCOMSCIMA
Forward P/E 26.4xFY2026 29.0xFY2026 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.93FY2026 $20.78FY2026 $20.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.0%FY2026 +20.3%FY2026 +23.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -1.5% +5.3% +14.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.69BFY2026 $3.73BFY2026 $38.99BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 +19.2%FY2026 +18.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.0% +9.7% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMCOMSCIMA
Held by institutions 90.8% 92.4% 87.5%
Institutions holding 1,404 1,080 3,583
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.6% +3.6% +0.6%
Institutions buying 644 512 1,588
Institutions selling 522 407 1,527
Buyers to sellers 1.23 1.26 1.04

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MCOMSCIMA
MCO 1.00 0.72 0.45
MSCI 0.72 1.00 0.37
MA 0.45 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MCO, MSCI and MA?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Moodys (MCO) $82.25B, Msci (MSCI) $43.68B, Mastercard (MA) $540.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, MCO, MSCI and MA?

Moodys (MCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Moodys (MCO) 28.5x, Msci (MSCI) 31.6x, Mastercard (MA) 33.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Moodys (MCO) is cheapest (Moodys (MCO) 26.4x, Msci (MSCI) 29.0x, Mastercard (MA) 29.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mastercard (MA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Moodys (MCO) +9.0%, Msci (MSCI) +12.3%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Moodys (MCO) 35.3%, Msci (MSCI) 40.3%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Moodys (MCO) 27.9%, Msci (MSCI) 44.1%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Msci (MSCI) returned the most: Moodys (MCO) -4.3%, Msci (MSCI) +10.0%, Mastercard (MA) +6.5%. Over five years, Mastercard (MA) compounded fastest (Moodys (MCO) +3.1%/yr, Msci (MSCI) -1.7%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Msci (MSCI) has the highest dividend yield: Moodys (MCO) 0.01%, Msci (MSCI) 0.01%, Mastercard (MA) 0.00%. Mastercard (MA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Moodys (MCO) 28.4%, Msci (MSCI) 30.9%, Mastercard (MA) 22.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MCO, MSCI and MA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mastercard (MA) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.