Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Target Cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut Moody’s price target from $570 to $555 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying roughly 20.4% upside from the stock’s previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: Moody’s has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $555.74, with 14 Buy ratings and seven Holds.
• Moody’s recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.68 in EPS and $2.19 billion in revenue, up 15.1% year over year; institutional investors own 92.11% of the stock.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $570.00 to $555.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the business services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price suggests a potential upside of 20.38% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MCO. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $505.00 price objective (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Moody's from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.74.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $3.10 on Wednesday, reaching $461.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 269,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,700. Moody's has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $477.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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 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 firm 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 posted $3.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts forecast that Moody's will post 16.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,024,874,000 after acquiring an additional 72,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Moody's by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $643,191,000 after purchasing an additional 33,024 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Moody's by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Moody's by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $458,126,000 after buying an additional 168,528 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Moody's by 7.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,188,000 after purchasing an additional 59,121 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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