Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.35 EPS

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35, Zacks reports. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s updated its FY 2025 guidance to 14.000-14.500 EPS.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO traded down $4.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $522.76. 779,790 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 656,318. The stock has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $484.94 and a 200 day moving average of $478.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $522.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.