William Blair Has Optimistic View of Moody’s FY2024 Earnings

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – Investment analysts at William Blair upped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Moody’s in a research report issued on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $12.04 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $11.61. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $11.46 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ FY2025 earnings at $12.88 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MCO. Barclays increased their target price on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE MCO opened at $462.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $84.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a twelve month low of $298.86 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $478.14 and its 200 day moving average is $437.82.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Motco lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,191,000 after buying an additional 3,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in Moody’s by 68.1% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 52,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,673,000 after buying an additional 21,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.