Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair increased their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Moody's in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the business services provider will earn $2.18 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.17. The consensus estimate for Moody's' current full-year earnings is $11.46 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody's' Q1 2025 earnings at $3.48 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.30 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.26 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.84 EPS.
A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Moody's from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody's from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $500.00.
View Our Latest Report on Moody's
Moody's stock opened at $466.94 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.26 billion, a PE ratio of 50.98, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $478.15 and its 200 day moving average is $437.61. Moody's has a 12-month low of $298.86 and a 12-month high of $495.10.
Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 37.12%.
In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody's news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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.
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