Q3 2024 EPS Estimates for Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Lowered by Analyst

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – William Blair reduced their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Moody’s in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings of $2.46 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.53. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $10.67 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.46 EPS.

MCO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.0 %

MCO opened at $373.54 on Tuesday. Moody’s has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $386.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $368.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.17 billion, a PE ratio of 42.79, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $153,532,000. White Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Moody’s by 323.3% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 44,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,927,000 after purchasing an additional 33,642 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

About Moody’s

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.