FY2025 Earnings Forecast for Moody's Issued By William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair has raised Moody's FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate to $14.63, surpassing the previous estimate of $14.10 and the consensus estimate of $13.95.
• The company reported a strong quarterly performance, achieving $3.92 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, and generating revenue of $2.01 billion, which is a 10.7% increase year-over-year.
• Moody's declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, representing a 0.8% yield, with the next payment scheduled for December 12th.

Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Moody's in a research report issued on Wednesday, October 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $14.63 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $14.10. The consensus estimate for Moody's' current full-year earnings is $13.95 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody's' FY2026 earnings at $16.14 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody's from $597.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Moody's from $526.00 to $471.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $542.33.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock opened at $479.65 on Friday. 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 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $85.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $493.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $484.12.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.94 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 30.23%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 2,120 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,841,138.44. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Noemie Clemence Heuland sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.24, for a total transaction of $455,891.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,699.52. The trade was a 29.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,423 shares of company stock valued at $4,802,876. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.3% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,712,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. VestGen Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 762 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% 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.

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