Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.32 EPS

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32, RTT News reports. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Moody’s updated its FY 2024 guidance to 11.900-12.100 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $11.90-12.10 EPS.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $468.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $478.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $437.61. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.