Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Morgan Stanley

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $512.00 to $470.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $505.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $552.81.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $464.32 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.16. The firm has a market cap of $80.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s will post 16.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 10,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,726,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.