Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $553.61

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $555.12.

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $914,721,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $395,096,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 72.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,963,000 after buying an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 50,985.1% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,777,000 after buying an additional 419,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $153,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.0%

Moody’s stock opened at $441.40 on Wednesday. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $481.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $76.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.35.

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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s will post 16.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders 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 is currently 26.13%.

Moody’s Company Profile

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 companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.