Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 55.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,754 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $425,827,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 277.8% during the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,544,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $488,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,463 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 67.2% during the second quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,288,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $795,918,000 after acquiring an additional 920,100 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after acquiring an additional 914,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $153,532,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.7 %

Moody’s stock opened at $393.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $290.98 and a 12 month high of $407.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $387.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $362.83. The firm has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a PE ratio of 45.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Moody’s from $427.00 to $411.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total transaction of $958,945.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.07% 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.