Moody’s Corporation $MCO Position Lowered by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,530 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Moody’s worth $104,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,272,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,802,195,000 after acquiring an additional 102,682 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,965,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,019,551,000 after purchasing an additional 42,966 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after purchasing an additional 111,725 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,370,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,023,000 after purchasing an additional 62,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,349,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,024,874,000 after purchasing an additional 72,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total value of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares in the company, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at $900,534.95. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,495,098. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2%

Moody’s stock opened at $483.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $402.28 and a one year high of $546.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $467.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $463.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.56 EPS. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 26.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $521.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $590.00 to $597.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $505.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $565.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.61.

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.