Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Has $516,000 Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 109.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Moody's by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Moody's by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Moody's by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody's by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $312,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded down $14.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $472.70. The stock had a trading volume of 624,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,439. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.04 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.90.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company 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.