State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $28,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

MCO opened at $522.76 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $484.94 and its 200-day moving average is $478.79. The company has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 47.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

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.