Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $3.44 Million Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Moody's Corporation by 13.7%, holding 7,389 shares valued at $3.44 million after selling 1,169 shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Moody's, with price targets ranging from $468 to $580, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Moody's reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.56, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94 to be paid on September 5th.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,389 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,169 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Moody's by 132.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Motco raised its stake in Moody's by 581.3% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Moody's from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody's from $445.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Moody's from $520.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody's from $493.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.80.

Moody's Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $514.58 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $495.26 and a 200-day moving average of $478.40. The company has a market capitalization of $92.11 billion, a PE ratio of 43.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Moody's Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.17. Moody's had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 60.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.28 earnings per share. Moody's's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 31.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.40, for a total transaction of $208,911.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,153,412.40. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael L. West sold 3,704 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,114.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,195,619.90. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,593 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,984 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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