Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six 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 target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $544.2941.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, May 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $73,689.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,473.77. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,400,092. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $464.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $445.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $471.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 29.53%.

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.