Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Buys New Position in Moelis & Company $MC

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired 182,826 shares of Moelis & Company, valued at approximately $10.67 million, during the first quarter, representing a 0.23% ownership stake.
• Moelis & Company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a year-over-year revenue increase of 38.1%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.6%, projected to be paid on September 18th.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 182,826 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $10,670,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned about 0.23% of Moelis & Company as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,305,688 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $484,720,000 after purchasing an additional 158,373 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 214.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,942,299 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $171,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,747 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 4.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,260,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $131,914,000 after purchasing an additional 95,114 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 8.5% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 1,264,200 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $73,779,000 after purchasing an additional 99,313 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moelis & Company by 9.5% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 958,902 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,961,000 after purchasing an additional 83,034 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moelis & Company

In other Moelis & Company news, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,615 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $189,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,544.68. This trade represents a 26.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Osamu R. Watanabe sold 6,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.64, for a total value of $460,537.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,515.84. The trade was a 97.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Moelis & Company from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Moelis & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research raised Moelis & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Moelis & Company from $69.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

Moelis & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MC traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.65. 533,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,968. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.24. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82 and a beta of 1.72. Moelis & Company has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $365.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $269.57 million. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.Moelis & Company's revenue was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Moelis & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Moelis & Company's payout ratio is currently 102.36%.

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.