Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Moody’s Q4 Earnings

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) – Research analysts at William Blair upped their Q4 2025 earnings per share estimates for Moody’s in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings of $3.32 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.94. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $13.95 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q1 2026 earnings at $4.11 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.05 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.27 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $3.71 EPS.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial upgraded Moody’s from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Moody’s from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.33.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $495.22 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $88.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. Moody’s has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $493.04 and a 200-day moving average of $486.09.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.09, for a total transaction of $199,652.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,385,939.38. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.18, for a total value of $1,083,701.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,841,138.44. This represents a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,365 shares of company stock worth $1,712,505. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 402 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,180,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 378,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $180,345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $591,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.