Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $489.00 to $515.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential upside of 3.24% from the company’s current price.

MCO has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Moody’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $543.28.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $498.84 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $452.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $466.06. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $87.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 16.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $665,533.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. The trade was 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 quarter, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 87.1% in the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 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.