Moody's Corporation vs Morgan Stanley — how do they compare? Moody's Corporation trades at $476.73 (market cap $82.80B), while Morgan Stanley trades at $215.07 (market cap $338.50B). The key difference: Morgan Stanley is far larger — about 4.1× Moody's Corporation's market cap, and Morgan Stanley pays the higher dividend (2.14%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| MCO | MS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $82.80B | $338.50B |
Sector | Financials | Financials |
52-Week High | $539.61 | $228.42 |
52-Week Low | $412.23 | $143.88 |
Enterprise Value | $88.83B | — |
Dividend Yield | 0.86% | 2.14% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
MCO trades at $477.75, up 0.98% on the day, with a bullish technical signal and strong fundamentals. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $4.68 versus $4.26 expected, driven by robust debt issuance and analytics demand. Revenue growth accelerated to 15% year-over-year, with net income margin expanding to 34.25%. The stock is supported by a consensus price target of $561.88, indicating 17.6% upside potential, and positive analyst sentiment with 56% buy ratings.
Outlook remains positive due to consistent earnings beats, high profitability, and strategic positioning in credit ratings. Risks include elevated valuation multiples, such as a P/E of 30.31, and dependence on capital market activity. Investors should weigh growth prospects against potential macroeconomic headwinds affecting debt issuance volumes.
Morgan Stanley (MS) trades at $215.1, down 0.54% on the day, with a neutral technical signal and key support at $214. The company reported strong earnings beats in recent quarters, with Q2 2026 EPS of $3.46 surpassing expectations of $2.89. Revenue growth accelerated to $66.0B in 2025, and net income margin improved to 25.56%. Recent news highlights Morgan Stanley's role in leading Anthropic's IPO and expanding AI integration in wealth management.
The outlook remains positive with a consensus price target of $239.58, implying 11% upside. Strengths include robust profitability and strategic initiatives, but risks involve volatile cash flows from operations and high leverage. Analyst sentiment is bullish with 56% buy ratings, though investors should monitor debt levels and market volatility.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Moody's, along with S&P Ratings, is a leading provider of credit ratings on fixed income securities. Moody's ratings segment, known as Moody's Investors Service or MIS, includes corporates, structured finance, financial institutions, and public finance ratings. MIS represents a majority of the firm's revenue and profits. Moody's other segment is Moody's Analytics and consists of Research, Data, and Analytics or RD&A and Enterprise Risk Solutions or ERS. RD&A's products include credit research, quantitative credit scores, economic research, business intelligence, know your customer (KYC) tools, commercial real estate data and analytical tools, and training services. ERS includes risk management software solutions to financial institutions.
Read more on MCO →Morgan Stanley is a global investment bank whose history, through its legacy firms, can be traced back to 1924. The company has institutional securities, wealth management, and investment management segments. The company had about $5 trillion of client assets as well as over 70,000 employees at the end of 2021. Approximately 50% of the company's net revenue is from its institutional securities business, with the remainder coming from wealth and investment management. The company derives about 30% of its total revenue outside the Americas.
Read more on MS →