Brokerages Set Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Price Target at $553.61

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $553.6111.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $488.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.33. Moody’s has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $473.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $459.37.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s will post 16.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% 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 sold a total of 3,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,682 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter worth about $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 15.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 6.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 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.