Analysts Set Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Target Price at $547.94
by Amy Steele · The Cerbat GemShares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $547.9375.
A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Moody’s
Moody’s Trading Down 2.4%
Moody’s stock opened at $427.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Moody’s has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $445.40 and its 200 day moving average is $478.63.
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.
Moody’s Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.
Insider Transactions at Moody’s
In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stance Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 2,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,468,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,895,000 after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 210.4% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 1,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,294,000. 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.