BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets cut Moody’s price target to $490 from $515 while maintaining a “market perform” rating, implying about 5.15% upside from the stock’s $466 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Moody’s has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $558.11, supported by 14 Buy and seven Hold ratings.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.68 in EPS and $2.19 billion in revenue, up 15.1% year over year; shares nevertheless fell 1.0% in Tuesday trading.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $515.00 to $490.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the business services provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target suggests a potential upside of 5.15% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $558.11.

Moody's Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of MCO stock traded down $4.50 on Tuesday, reaching $466.00. 197,131 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,053,598. The company has a market capitalization of $80.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The business's 50 day moving average price is $478.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.63.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.56 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody's will post 16.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody's

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Moody's by 53.1% during the third quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 902 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Sacks & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the third quarter valued at about $3,252,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 1.6% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,804 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.6% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,724 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody's Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody's traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.

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