Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Moody’s has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, based on coverage from 19 research firms. The average 12-month price target is about $544.29.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed but solid: EPS of $4.33 beat expectations, while revenue of $2.08 billion came in slightly below estimates. Revenue still rose 8.1% year over year.
• Moody’s also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, payable June 5, which works out to an annualized yield of about 0.9%.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $544.2941.

A number of research firms recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd.

Moody's Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MCO opened at $451.55 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $444.84 and a 200 day moving average of $471.82. Moody's has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. 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 $78.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.37.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total value of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,952,188 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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