Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $6.63 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Haverford Trust Co raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCO opened at $480.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $358.49 and a fifty-two week high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $473.43 and a 200 day moving average of $451.25.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

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.