Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MCO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $551.88.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $436.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $496.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.44. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $30,473,809.80. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, VestGen Advisors LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.0% in the second quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.