Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 465,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,060,000 after buying an additional 2,239 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.5% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 15,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,367,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 34.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,333,000 after buying an additional 3,864 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 20.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.3% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares in the company, valued at $473,647.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $490.11 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $492.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $466.86 and a 200-day moving average of $422.79. The company has a market capitalization of $89.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $482.00 to $455.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $451.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.