Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $21,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $481.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $490.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently 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.