Q1 2024 Earnings Estimate for Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Issued By William Blair

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – Equities researchers at William Blair increased their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for Moody’s in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $2.98 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.77. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $10.67 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q2 2024 earnings at $2.70 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $10.60 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.35 EPS.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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 for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MCO traded up $4.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $375.41. 573,267 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 717,712. The firm has a market cap of $68.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $385.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $368.64. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $153,532,000. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Moody’s by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in Moody’s by 323.3% during the third 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 during the period. 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.