William Blair Has Strong Estimate for Moody’s Q3 Earnings

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – William Blair boosted their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Moody’s in a research note issued on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $2.79 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.33. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $11.46 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.17 EPS.

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

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $488.46.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MCO opened at $486.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.08, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $477.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $434.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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.