William Blair Forecasts Moody’s’ FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:MCO)

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – William Blair boosted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Moody’s in a 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 prior forecast 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.

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI started 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.0 %

Moody’s stock opened at $462.41 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $437.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $495.10. The company has a market cap of $84.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during 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 period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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