William Blair Forecasts Moody’s’ FY2025 Earnings (NYSE:MCO)

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) – Investment analysts at William Blair upped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Moody’s in a report issued on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $13.71 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $13.62. The consensus estimate for Moody’s’ current full-year earnings is $13.95 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Moody’s’ Q1 2026 earnings at $4.09 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.04 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.89 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.40 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $15.43 EPS.

MCO has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Moody’s from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Moody’s from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $552.00 to $563.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Moody’s from $525.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.80.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $510.77 on Monday. Moody’s has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $489.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $476.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.89 billion, a PE ratio of 43.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.28 EPS.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 1,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 80 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 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.