Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 2,107 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its position in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 31.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,596 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,107 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Moody's by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody's by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 535 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in Moody's by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 42,843 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $519.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE MCO traded up $6.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $476.28. The stock had a trading volume of 693,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,263. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.39. Moody's Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $466.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.12.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.15% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Moody's Company 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.