Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $498.05 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $488.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.79. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

About Moody’s

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.