Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,388 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $32,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter worth about $35,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Moody’s stock traded up $1.23 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $449.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 336,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,956. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.13, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $458.24.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $448.50.

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.