Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Given New $489.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $526.00 to $489.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $547.94.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $438.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $385.61 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $450.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $479.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.77, for a total value of $642,208.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,046,819.53. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock valued at $3,786,732. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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.