Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $2.20 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 428 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after buying an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Moody’s by 9.3% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 35,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 98.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 204.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,371,000 after purchasing an additional 12,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $141,336,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $473.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $352.17 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $473.97 and its 200-day moving average is $448.02.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $500.00.

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.