Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $541.8333.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $450.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.58. The stock has a market cap of $78.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The business 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%.Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.53%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock worth $2,137,306. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 87.1% in the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 1,866.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.