Wall Street Zen Upgrades Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) to Buy

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MCO. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.75.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MCO opened at $447.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $497.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $493.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a market cap of $79.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.44.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total value of $286,867.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,473,809.80. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Moody’s

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS of $3.64 topped consensus and revenue rose ~13% with record Investors Services revenue, supporting near-term fundamentals and earnings guidance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management set upbeat FY2026 profit guidance and cited strong demand for credit ratings and M&A activity — this underpins forward growth expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic growth drivers highlighted: AI integration and expanded decision?grade data offerings are being cited as contributors to recurring revenue and product differentiation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase announced — Moody’s raised its quarterly payout ~9.6% to $1.03, signaling confidence in cash flow and returning capital to shareholders. (Ex-dividend date March 2)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst target revisions and model updates are rolling in ahead of/after the print; some firms adjusted forecasts (mixed impact as revisions reflect both beat and longer-term assumptions). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target from $600 to $560 but kept an “overweight” rating — this narrows upside expectations while still signaling conviction in the name. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Post-earnings pullback was anticipated by some analysts/comments — Seeking Alpha and others note investor profit-taking and that the stock may be re-pricing 2026 assumptions despite the beat. Article Title

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.