Inspire Investing LLC Takes Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 30,605 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,744,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 381,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,221,000 after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares during the last quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its position in Moelis & Company by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 240,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,174,000 after purchasing an additional 45,458 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,718,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Moelis & Company by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 112,011 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,989,000 after purchasing an additional 18,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 918,876 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,534,000 after buying an additional 135,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $90.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Moelis & Company from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.89.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NYSE MC opened at $65.43 on Wednesday. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $51.06 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.53 and its 200-day moving average is $65.92.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $319.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.51 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 38.94%. Moelis & Company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Moelis & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.53%.

Moelis & 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.