Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Given New $600.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.58.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $504.85 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $88.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $461.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $465.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 Moody’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 value of $665,533.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted 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 worth $5,475,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% during 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 last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Moody’s by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,692,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Moody’s by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.