Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $610.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MCO. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.47.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $511.14 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $460.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.69. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 29.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,692,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Moody’s

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.