Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 957 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 92,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,694,000 after acquiring an additional 27,484 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 72,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,411 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 8,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,815,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $947,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 47,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,497,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2 %

Moody’s stock opened at $459.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $485.42 and its 200-day moving average is $480.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $82.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

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.