New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,105 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,400 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $59,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Moody's by 55,808.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Moody's by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $150,376,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 20.5% during 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 during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $7.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $504.42. 483,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 763,661. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.56, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $476.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.37.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $521.40.

About Moody's

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.