Moelis & Company $MC Shares Acquired by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 381,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,800 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.49% of Moelis & Company worth $26,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Moelis & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,762,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 1,161.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,231,000 after acquiring an additional 609,162 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the second quarter worth about $31,248,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 16.1% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,304,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $235,654,000 after purchasing an additional 458,575 shares during the period. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 378,636 shares during the period. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Moelis & Company from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Moelis & Company from $74.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moelis & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 2,765 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $309,967.63. This represents a 35.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Moelis & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $54.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.90. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $47.00 and a 52-week high of $78.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.36.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last issued its quarterly 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. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The firm had revenue of $487.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio 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.