Moody’s downgraded at Raymond James as ratings rebound priced in

Raymond James analyst Patrick O’Shaughnessy downgraded Moody’s to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target following the Q4 results. While the quarter was modestly better than expected, and the firm is reasonably confident that better days are ahead for Moody’s ratings business, the ratings rebound is already priced in, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The company’s modest $250M in planned share repurchases during 2023 is evidence of constrained capital allocation ability in the near-term, Raymond James says.