Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $610.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.84% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MCO. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $524.00 to $521.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.47.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of MCO opened at $517.65 on Friday. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $90.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $459.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $665,533.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,846,709.88. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.