JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $530.00 to $600.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.45% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price objective on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.58.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock traded down $4.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $506.54. The company had a trading volume of 113,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,613. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $460.53 and its 200-day moving average is $465.32. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $88.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly 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 business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 58 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 1,866.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 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.