New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,576 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,289 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,576 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Moody's worth $58,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $425,827,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,544,160 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $488,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,463 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 67.2% during the 2nd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,288,962 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $795,918,000 after acquiring an additional 920,100 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after acquiring an additional 914,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at $153,532,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,368,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $392.47. 619,741 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 618,612. The stock's fifty day moving average is $387.56 and its 200 day moving average is $365.11. The stock has a market cap of $71.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $290.98 and a 1-year high of $407.62.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 10.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $397.75.

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.