William Blair Comments on Moody's Co.'s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:MCO)

Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair decreased their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Moody's in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings of $2.46 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.53. The consensus estimate for Moody's' current full-year earnings is $10.67 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody's' Q4 2024 earnings at $2.46 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MCO. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Moody's from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Moody's from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Moody's from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $397.75.

Moody's Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MCO traded down $3.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $370.32. 900,044 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 721,457. The stock has a market cap of $67.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average is $386.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $368.26. Moody's has a 12 month low of $296.45 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 38.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody's

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Markel Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 212,990 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $71,865,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,126 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 1st quarter worth about $1,078,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in Moody's by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 30,994 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,457,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. 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.