State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $27.09 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Corporation $MCO

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 56,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,594 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $27,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter worth $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.90, for a total transaction of $286,867.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 61,082 shares in the company, valued at $30,473,809.80. This represents a 0.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Moody’s from $580.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $520.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho upped their price target on Moody’s from $539.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.56.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.8%

NYSE MCO opened at $426.82 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $501.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Moody’s Corporation has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $546.88. The firm has a market cap of $76.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44.

Moody’s Company 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.