New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.12% of Moody’s worth $100,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,712,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. EWA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 1,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s 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 transaction of $558,934.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,255,223.90. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $574.00 price objective on Moody’s and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.94.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $515.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $508.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $500.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.45. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $546.88.

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.