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

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $372.24 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $384.18 and its 200 day moving average is $372.80. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $296.45 and a fifty-two week high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 38.95%.

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.