Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other brokerages have also commented on MCO. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.25.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $434.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $472.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $485.48. The stock has a market cap of $77.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88.

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. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’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 value of $171,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position 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. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VestGen Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.0% during the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in 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.