Analysts Set Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Price Target at $553.61

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $553.6111.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays upped their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 806.7% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $1,097,101,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,769,000 after acquiring an additional 143,515 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $1,083,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $475.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a market cap of $82.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $490.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.00. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s will post 16.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.13%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.