Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Boosts Stake in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 215.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 723,384 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 494,123 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.97% of Moelis & Company worth $53,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moelis & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,290,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 6,043 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 768,945 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $56,810,000 after acquiring an additional 53,473 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its position in Moelis & Company by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 4,464 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

NYSE:MC traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $54.94. 853,234 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 752,430. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.88. Moelis & Company has a 52 week low of $47.00 and a 52 week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. The company had revenue of $306.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $309.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Moelis & Company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 119.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MC shares. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Moelis & Company from $70.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This trade represents a 26.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Callesano sold 1,282 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $94,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,227 shares in the company, valued at $90,798. This represents a 51.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock worth $1,677,017 in the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Moelis & Company

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.