Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 996 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 996 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $13,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.5 %

MCO opened at $372.24 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $296.45 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $384.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.80. The company has a market cap of $67.93 billion, a PE ratio of 42.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 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 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

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.