Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $610.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.47.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MCO opened at $511.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $460.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $465.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% 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. Insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its stake in Moody’s by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 218,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,796,000 after acquiring an additional 48,240 shares during the period. LBP AM SA lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 5,179.4% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 38,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,796,000 after acquiring an additional 38,017 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 41,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,362 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.