Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Forecasted to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $2.33 Per Share

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – Equities researchers at William Blair reduced their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Moody’s in a research note issued on Tuesday, July 23rd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $2.33 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.35. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $11.32 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.23 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.54 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.30 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.91 EPS.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $448.50.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $436.99 on Friday. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $458.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $79.79 billion, a PE ratio of 47.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $398.63.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. 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.