William Blair Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – Analysts at William Blair upped their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Moody’s in a report released on Thursday, May 2nd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will earn $2.74 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.70. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $10.78 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q3 2024 earnings at $2.34 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.25 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $10.71 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.54 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.14 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.84 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.82 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MCO. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $400.50.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $394.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.02, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.26. Moody’s has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $384.45 and its 200 day moving average is $375.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.3% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.