New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $97.95 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,064 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.14% of Moody’s worth $97,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.8% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 60.0% during the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.8% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 8.2% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $3.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $382.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 196,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,188. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $383.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $370.41. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $296.45 and a one year high of $407.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 38.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

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.