Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 16.400-17.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 16.670. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $526.00 to $489.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $660.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.69.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $460.86 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $443.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $477.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.04 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $402.28 and a 1-year high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.40 by ($0.07). Moody’s had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 16.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,008,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $515,368,000 after purchasing an additional 13,348 shares in the last quarter. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 98,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,059,000 after purchasing an additional 26,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,938,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.