California State Teachers Retirement System Has $100.44 Million Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221,766 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,181 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.13% of Moody's worth $100,442,257 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 806.7% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,097,101,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Moody's by 78.3% in the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,913,000 after buying an additional 2,505 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Moody's by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $262,769,000 after acquiring an additional 143,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,083,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.30, for a total transaction of $710,468.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,166,165.20. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Moody's

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody's this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moody’s agreed to acquire a minority stake in Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings), a Manila-based domestic credit-rating agency. The transaction expands Moody’s presence in the Philippines and gives it greater exposure to the country’s developing debt-capital markets, potentially supporting longer-term growth in its ratings and analytics businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed. Moody’s to Acquire Minority Stake in Philippine Rating Services Corporation
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity was unusually strong, with investors purchasing 4,144 call options—about 544% above the typical daily volume of 643 contracts. The activity indicates increased speculative or hedging interest in potential upside for MCO, although it does not guarantee a move higher.
• Neutral Sentiment: The PhilRatings investment appears strategically constructive but is a minority acquisition with no disclosed purchase price or earnings contribution. As a result, investors may view it as a longer-term market-positioning move rather than a catalyst for immediate earnings growth. Moody’s to Acquire Minority Stake in Philippine Rating Services Corporation
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage has raised the question of whether Moody’s stock is fully valued following the expansion announcement. That valuation concern may be limiting enthusiasm for the deal, particularly because the acquisition does not provide detailed near-term financial guidance or a material earnings outlook change. Moody’s Expands in the Philippines, Is the Stock Fully Valued?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $500.00 price target on Moody's in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody's from $557.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Moody's from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $553.61.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $9.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $468.49. 229,735 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,079,380. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $490.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.37. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $402.28 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. Moody's had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 80.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody's's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

Moody's Profile

Moody's Corporation NYSE: MCO is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytical tools. Through Moody's Ratings, the company evaluates the creditworthiness of governments, companies, financial institutions and debt securities, helping investors and other market participants assess credit risk. Its ratings and related research cover a broad range of fixed-income markets and structured finance products.

Through Moody's Analytics, the company provides economic and financial intelligence, risk-management software, data, quantitative models and advisory services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.