Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,746 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $59,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Moody’s by 21.1% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 1,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH lifted its position in Moody’s by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 2,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 20,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,700,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Moody’s by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 17,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $534.00 to $507.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 target price on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 price target on Moody’s and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $531.51 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $496.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $497.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $94.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $540.00.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 30.23%.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.