Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,746 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of Moody’s worth $59,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter worth $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MCO opened at $531.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $94.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $540.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $496.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $497.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 63.58% and a net margin of 29.92%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.21 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.500-14.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 30.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,098. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Moody’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $524.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price target on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.93.

Moody’s Profile

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.