Virtu Financial LLC Sells 10,746 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 68.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,746 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $459.73 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $82.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $485.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.44.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.