California State Teachers Retirement System Has $120.65 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,157 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Moody’s worth $120,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $440.02 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $79.16 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $453.33 and a 200-day moving average of $472.78.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.