Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 308 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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 have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $480.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $473.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.25. The company has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $358.49 and a 1-year high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

About Moody’s

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.