Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 548 Shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $43,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $497.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $476.02 and a 200-day moving average of $472.37.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 29.15%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $523.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.