Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Moody’s has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 19 covering analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $545.06.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed, including Weiss Ratings upgrading Moody’s to buy and Wells Fargo raising its target to $590, while others such as Morgan Stanley and BMO kept more neutral views.
• The stock was up 2.6% to $517.65, and Moody’s recently reported earnings that beat EPS expectations with $4.33 per share, while also maintaining a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $545.0556.

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody's from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business'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 transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $395,096,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,716,304 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $876,775,000 after acquiring an additional 726,971 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 72.5% in the first 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. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 50,985.1% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,777,000 after acquiring an additional 419,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of MCO opened at $517.65 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $459.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

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.

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