Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $553.61 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Twenty analysts rate Moody’s a consensus “Moderate Buy,” including 14 buys, five holds, and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $553.61, with recent targets ranging from $505 to $600.
• Moody’s exceeded quarterly expectations: The company reported quarterly EPS of $4.68 versus the $4.26 consensus and revenue of $2.19 billion, up 15.1% year over year. Analysts expect approximately $16.98 in earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
• Shares and ownership remain closely watched: Moody’s recently traded at $454.57, below its 52-week high of $546.88, while institutional investors own 92.11% of outstanding shares. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.03, equivalent to a 0.9% annual yield.

Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $553.61.

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody's from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $454.57 on Wednesday. Moody's has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $78.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.34.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were 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 was Friday, August 14th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Moody's by 806.7% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,031,000 after buying an additional 8,220 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,083,000. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 4.1% during the second quarter. Ironvine Capital Partners LLC now owns 85,200 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,589,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353 shares during the last quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,483,000. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,979,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

About Moody's

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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