Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MCO. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $447.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $497.07 and a 200-day moving average of $493.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.15, for a total value of $305,560.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,527,474.30. This represents a 0.96% 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. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Moody’s

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS of $3.64 topped consensus and revenue rose ~13% with record Investors Services revenue, supporting near-term fundamentals and earnings guidance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management set upbeat FY2026 profit guidance and cited strong demand for credit ratings and M&A activity — this underpins forward growth expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic growth drivers highlighted: AI integration and expanded decision‑grade data offerings are being cited as contributors to recurring revenue and product differentiation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase announced — Moody’s raised its quarterly payout ~9.6% to $1.03, signaling confidence in cash flow and returning capital to shareholders. (Ex-dividend date March 2)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst target revisions and model updates are rolling in ahead of/after the print; some firms adjusted forecasts (mixed impact as revisions reflect both beat and longer-term assumptions). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target from $600 to $560 but kept an “overweight” rating — this narrows upside expectations while still signaling conviction in the name. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Post-earnings pullback was anticipated by some analysts/comments — Seeking Alpha and others note investor profit-taking and that the stock may be re-pricing 2026 assumptions despite the beat. Article Title

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.