Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 6,600 Shares of Moody’s Corporation $MCO

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $31,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 937 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,311,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,159,185,000 after purchasing an additional 215,551 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 72.3% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,167 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.95, for a total value of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,739 shares of company stock worth $841,445. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Seaport Research Partners raised Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $528.00 target price on shares of Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $523.58 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.41 billion, a PE ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 63.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Corporation will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.