Voloridge Investment Management LLC Has $9.37 Million Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 71.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,803 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 49,125 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $9,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Carson Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in Moody's by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $2.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $481.37. 422,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 768,290. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $453.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $473.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Moody's in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.87.

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.