Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Stock Price Target Cut by Royal Bank Of Canada

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $610.00 to $575.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.37% from the company’s current price.

MCO has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $512.00 to $470.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $551.26.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $2.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $481.69. The company had a trading volume of 232,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,050,383. The company has a market capitalization of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $477.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $466.52.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $914,721,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,963,000 after purchasing an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Moody’s by 50,985.1% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 420,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,777,000 after purchasing an additional 419,607 shares in the last quarter. Employees Provident Fund Board bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $153,255,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 5,102.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 286,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $124,860,000 after buying an additional 280,712 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.