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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 Down 0.4 %

Moody’s stock traded down $1.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $466.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 792,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,638. Moody’s has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.98, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $437.61.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.