Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 707,226 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 23,878 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.94% of Moelis & Company worth $52,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Moelis & Company by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,420 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its position in shares of Moelis & Company by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 4,464 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the company'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 $718,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total transaction of $184,437.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Moelis & Company Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of MC stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.96. 95,129 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,890. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 1.66. Moelis & Company has a 12-month low of $47.00 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $56.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.10.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $306.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.67 million. Moelis & Company had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 38.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Moelis & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 119.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moelis & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Moelis & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.83.

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.