Moody's (NYSE:MCO) Issues Earnings Results

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.73% and a net margin of 29.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS. Moody's updated its FY 2025 guidance to 13.500-14.000 EPS.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $512.62. 688,529 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 753,171. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $489.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $475.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $92.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total value of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on Moody's from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Moody's from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $538.80.

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.