Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Moelis & Company $MC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 24,803 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,705,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Moelis & Company by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 153.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Moelis & Company by 89.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 597 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MC opened at $65.90 on Thursday. Moelis & Company has a twelve month low of $51.06 and a twelve month high of $78.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.87.

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

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is 93.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Moelis & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Moelis & Company from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.89.

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.