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

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $477.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $478.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $467.47. Moody’s has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The stock has a market cap of $82.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $419,965.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $557.00 to $593.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 price objective (up from $490.00) on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.