Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Price Target to $560.00

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $660.00 to $560.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

MCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $550.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $590.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.69.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $446.91 on Monday. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $402.28 and a 12 month high of $546.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $442.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $477.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $79.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.45.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 66.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,222 shares of company stock worth $3,786,732. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.