Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Holdings Increased by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,417,643 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,797 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 4.80% of Moelis & Company worth $194,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,720,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,374,385 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $189,404,000 after buying an additional 334,620 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 32.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 927,705 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,867,000 after buying an additional 228,840 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,601,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 752,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $42,244,000 after buying an additional 136,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moelis & Company from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Moelis & Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $54.00 price target (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.80.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.23. The company had a trading volume of 295,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,101. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -301.21 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.59. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $38.58 and a 12-month high of $58.67.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.11. Moelis & Company had a negative net margin of 1.33% and a negative return on equity of 0.12%. The company had revenue of $217.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,263.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $2,159,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 42,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,290,965.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Moelis & Company news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $2,159,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,290,965.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Navid Mahmoodzadegan sold 44,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.92, for a total value of $2,470,301.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Company operates as an investment banking advisory firm. It offers advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters, as well as strategic, capital structure, and private funds advisory.