Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Issues Earnings Results

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25, Zacks reports. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's updated its FY 2025 guidance to 13.250-14.000 EPS.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $438.86. 691,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $454.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.00.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.