Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Price Target Raised to $515.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets raised Moody’s price target from $489 to $515 while keeping a “market perform” rating, implying about 3.24% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment on Moody’s is mixed overall: recent actions included a downgrade from Weiss Ratings and a target increase from Wells Fargo, but the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $543.28.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share, although revenue slightly missed estimates; the company also provided FY2026 EPS guidance of $16.40 to $17.00.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $489.00 to $515.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the business services provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.24% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MCO. Weiss Ratings cut Moody's from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Moody's from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $543.28.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $498.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $452.09 and a 200-day moving average of $466.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $87.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 1,866.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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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