Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $3.71 Million in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,710,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,191,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. Tobam raised its position in Moody’s by 2,010.0% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $377.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $68.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.20, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $296.45 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $386.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $367.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total transaction of $958,945.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by 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.