Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.35 EPS

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35, Zacks reports. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s updated its FY 2025 guidance to 14.000-14.500 EPS.

Moody’s Stock Up 4.4 %

MCO stock opened at $527.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $528.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.20, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $483.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $477.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MCO. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.