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

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $459.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $82.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.65. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

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

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.