Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires 2,066 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 44.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $522.62.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $484.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $478.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

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.