Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q3 2025 earnings at $3.54 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.08 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $14.00 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $4.19 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.05 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.12 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.63 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $16.00 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.74 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $4.57 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $4.62 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $18.00 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $595.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $509.00 to $534.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.21.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $485.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Moody’s has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $503.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.41.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.500-14.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.95%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total value of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,699.52. This represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,423 shares of company stock worth $4,812,135. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth $30,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.