Moody’s Co. to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $2.98 Per Share, William Blair Forecasts (NYSE:MCO)

Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) – Analysts at William Blair increased their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for Moody’s in a report issued on Monday, April 15th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $2.98 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.77. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $10.67 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q2 2024 earnings at $2.70 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $10.60 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.35 EPS.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $375.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $68.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.00, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $385.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $368.69.

Institutional Trading of Moody’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,164,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,531,934,000 after acquiring an additional 189,676 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 12,049,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,706,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,594 shares during the period. Akre Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,643,000 after buying an additional 38,615 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after buying an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,112,947,000 after buying an additional 914,530 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. 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%.

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.