Analysts Set Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) Target Price at $545.06

Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $548.4737.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $491.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $511.14 on Friday. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $460.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $465.32.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.