Legato Capital Management LLC Acquires 11,043 Shares of Moelis & Company $MC

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 199.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,043 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moelis & Company were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $46,762,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,231,000 after purchasing an additional 609,162 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $31,248,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 26.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,052,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $127,947,000 after purchasing an additional 424,138 shares during the period. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Moelis & Company by 91.2% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 793,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,600,000 after purchasing an additional 378,636 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $172,065.95. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,967.63. The trade was a 35.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of MC opened at $58.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.17. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $78.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.90.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $487.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.17 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 15.36%.Moelis & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Moelis & Company Company Profile

Moelis & Co operates as a holding company. It engages in the provision of financial advisory, capital raising and asset management services to a client base including corporations, governments, sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors. The firm focuses on clients including large public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments. The company was founded by Kenneth David Moelis, Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeffrey Raich and Elizabeth Ann Crain in July 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.