Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 118 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the first quarter worth $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MCO opened at $490.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $466.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.79. The stock has a market cap of $89.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $298.86 and a 12 month high of $492.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $477.08.

Moody’s 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.