State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 33,363 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 35.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 33,363 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $25,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 527.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 35,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,858,000 after purchasing an additional 29,824 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.0 %

Moody’s stock opened at $478.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $462.10 and a 200-day moving average of $419.17. The company has a market cap of $87.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $298.86 and a one year high of $490.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,606.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.