Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11), FiscalAI reports. Moody’s had a return on equity of 80.35% and a net margin of 34.25%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $477.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $478.01 and a 200-day moving average of $467.47. The company has a market cap of $82.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Moody’s has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,166,165.20. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $570.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $523.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $551.26.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.