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

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 68.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Trading Down 0.1 %

Moody's stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $469.44. 526,672 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 707,385. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm's 50 day moving average is $486.05 and its 200-day moving average is $480.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody's 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.