Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 548 Shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,852 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.05% of Moody's worth $43,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 55 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5,050.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MCO stock traded up $7.30 on Friday, hitting $504.42. The company had a trading volume of 485,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,939. The stock's 50-day moving average is $477.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.47. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $521.40.

Moody's 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.