BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $515.00 to $490.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 5.15% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Moody’s from $587.00 to $594.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Moody’s from $512.00 to $470.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.11.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $4.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $466.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 197,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,598. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $478.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $465.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.71 billion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. Moody’s has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s will post 16.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total value of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,024,874,000 after buying an additional 72,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 2.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,420,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,191,000 after acquiring an additional 33,024 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 72.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after acquiring an additional 454,684 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Moody’s by 20.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,011,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,126,000 after acquiring an additional 168,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Moody’s by 7.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 882,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,188,000 after acquiring an additional 59,121 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, and analytical tools. Through Moody’s Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of companies, governments, financial institutions, and structured finance securities, offering opinions and research used by investors, issuers, and other market participants.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, risk assessment tools, data, and software. Its products support credit and market risk management, compliance, portfolio analysis, lending, insurance, and corporate planning.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody published an analysis of railroad securities.