California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 10,222 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 1,098.8% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 6,977 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $451.64. 624,629 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 775,768. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $451.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.47.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company 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.